The National:

A VOCAL Brexiteer and political commentator has been mocked after suggesting The Sun’s video of Matt Hancock kissing close aide Gina Coladangelo had been “doctored”.

Isabel Oakeshott, who is vigorously opposed to Covid-19 restrictions and called masks “muzzles”, shared the CCTV footage of the Health Secretary with the non-executive director, asking people to look at the “extra hand on his lover’s back”.

The commentator wrote: “The video of [Matt Hancock] appears to have been doctored. Look at the extra hand on his lover’s back, 9 seconds in?? perhaps it doesn’t matter, as he’s admitted it all, but curious nonetheless …”

One wonders if right-wing commentators would suggest the same if a Labour or SNP minister had been implicated in this way. Anyway …

Fellow journalists mocked Oakeshott for her post, with the Financial Times’ Henry Mance joking: “Also the words The Sun are suspended in the air over and over.”

“I don’t understand: you mean the person who devised this video and made it so convincing that Hancock felt forced to admit it, put an extra hand in?” asked another commentator.

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“Maybe it is time you drove to Barnard Castle?” suggested Fionna O’Leary. “It’s her hand.”

Edward Norman joked: “He does appear to be snogging her but that could be his spare head.”

Any suspicion over whether the footage is doctored is entirely irrelevant given Hancock has apologised. Would you apologise for something you hadn't done?

But hey – some people will complete fantastic feats of mental gymnastics to prevent the Westminster elites from being held to account.