Inside Politics: Whitehall launches camera probe after Hancock’s candid clip

The government is looking at how the snog footage was leaked, as ministers sweep their own departments for cameras, writes Adam Forrest

Former health secretary Matt Hancock (PA)

Love Island is back! The first batch of ITV hopefuls are ready to start cracking on and pieing people off tonight. If things get too boring, the producers could always chuck Matt Hancock into Casa Amor. Having mugged off his ministerial position, the amorous MP has a bit more time on his hands. Westminster is feeling “the ick” over Hancock’s on-camera snogathon. But we’re not quite done with the whole sordid business. The government is now investigating how the camera footage got leaked, while Labour wants to probe into Hancock’s use of private emails.

Inside the bubble

Political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

All eyes on the new health secretary Sajid Javid, who will update MPs on the roadmap out of lockdown when he addresses the Commons around 3.30pm. Before that, former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill speaks at a Policy Exchange event on the UK’s ties with India at 11am.

Daily briefing

CANDID CAMERA: The government will examine how the “passionate embrace” footage from Matt Hancock’s office was leaked, said cabinet minister Brandon Lewis. “We have to understand how that happened,” he told Marr – suggesting there would be a general review of security cameras across Whitehall. Hancock is thought to have been clueless about a camera being in his office. The justice secretary Robert Buckland has said this morning he’s ordered a “sweep” of his offices for any unauthorised cameras. Meanwhile, Labour wants a “full-scale” investigation into ministers’ use of private email accounts after the Sunday Times reported that Hancock used his own account for government business. Labour also thinks Hancock should be denied his £16,000 severance pay, with Keir Starmer saying there were still “serious questions to answer” about his relationship with Gina Coladangelo and her government contract. The Mail claims there are rumours the pair were seeing each other for more than a year. But does anyone snog like that after a year?

RETURN OF THE SAJ: Sajid Javid has said he wants to see Britain get back to normal “as quickly as possible” after replacing Matt Hancock as health secretary. He will update MPs on whether England’s remaining curbs will end on 19 July, and is expected to say the government is confident the last restrictions can be lifted then. A source close to Javid told The Telegraph that “he’ll be extremely reluctant to support an extension”. The former chancellor’s return comes after his power struggle with Dominic Cummings last February. Not content with seeing the back of Hancock, Cummings decided to re-ignite his feud with Javid at the weekend – branding him “bog standard” and an “awful” choice. “If I hadn’t tricked the PM into firing Saj, we’d have had a [Treasury] with useless [secretary of state].” Labour also went on the attack, saying Javid had been an “architect of austerity” who had weakened the NHS – comparing his appointment to “putting the fox in charge of the chicken coup”.

SOGGY BOTTOM BOYS: Defence secretary Ben Wallace and six top military officials are self-isolating after Armed Forces chief General Sir Nick Carter tested positive for Covid. It’s probably a good time to lay low. An embarrassing mistake saw classified Ministry of Defence (MoD) documents containing details about HMS Defender’s found at a bus stop in Kent. The papers were found in a “soggy heap” behind a bus shelter last week by a member of the public who contacted the BBC after realising the importance of the contents. One set of papers discussed the Russian reaction to the warship’s voyage near the Crimea coast. “What do we understand about the possible ‘welcome party’…?” it asked. Another set of documents discusses possible UK involvement in Afghanistan after Nato quits. Labour said Wallace must complete an investigation into the bus stop blunder quickly.

BLAIR DITCH PROJECT: The remaining Blairites in the Labour party have reportedly abandoned all hope that Keir Starmer can rescue the party. A small group led by Blair-loving Labour peer Andrew Adonis is even trying to convince former prime minister to return to the Commons, according to the Sunday Times. Left-wing activists appear ready to pounce and try to topple Starmer if the party loses this Thursday’s by-election in Batley and Spen. Andrew Scattergood, the co-chair of Momentum told The Independent that Starmer been an “utter failure” – saying he should “consider resigning” if the party loses the seat. However, his immediate future as Labour leader looks relatively safe due to a lack of “unity” around any potential replacement, MPs have suggested. “People are talking about Starmer’s position,” said Diane Abbott. “But the thing which that makes him safe, I think, is the question of who we would replace him with … There’s no unity on who should replace him.”

CHEQUERS MATE: Boris Johnson is ready to “face down” Angela Merkel later this week over her bid to impose an EU-wide quarantine for British holidaymakers to keep out the Delta variant. The PM will host the German chancellor at Chequers on Friday. But will Johnson’s arguments come too late? Germany, backed by France, is set to propose 14-day quarantine policy today. Meanwhile, Priti Patel is reportedly hatching plans with EU member Denmark. The home secretary will open talks with Denmark about the possibility of sharing a processing centre for asylum seekers in Africa, according to The Times. She is ready to introduce new legislation to allow the government to send asylum seekers overseas. And Denmark is thought to be planning to send people to a centre in Rwanda. “We’ve had conversations to see what the Danes are doing,” said a UK government source.

SAUSAGE WAR GRILLING: Maros Sefcovic is in for a treat today. The vice president of the EU Commission will be grilled on the protocol and so-called sausage war when he appears before Stormont’s committee for the executive office today. The SDLP’s Colin McGrath, who chairs the committee, said he hoped all parties could “take the opportunity to work together” to ask constructive questions. Let’s wait and see if that’s too much to hope for. On Sunday Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis held his hands up about previous claims made about Brexit. The minister admitted a tweet he posted in January saying there was “no Irish Sea border” had “not aged well”. Lewis told Marr there was still work to be done to fix the “big disruption” to both businesses and consumers. Remember, the ban on chilled meats is due to come into force this week – but the EU has indicated it is willing to grant a three-month delay.

On the record

“Who does Starmer appeal to? If he’s too grey a character to appeal to anybody, is his position sustainable?”

Diane Abbott wonders about Keir Starmer’s future.

From the Twitterati

“It seems the big concern now is the Matt Hancock leak. I find that I don’t really want to know much about how Matt Hancock leaked.”

Michael Rosen makes light of the leak…

“Things that should be investigated – how was Hancock’s adviser given the job? Why were no conflicts of interests raised? Why was Hancock using private email for govt business? Not, who leaked CCTV footage.”

…while Jon Jones thinks we’re focusing on the wrong stuff.

Essential reading

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Hancock leaves a shameful legacy – he brought disgrace upon himself

Jess Phillips, The Independent: I’m sick of this government’s attitude – the country deserves better

Martin Kettle, The Guardian: Sajid Javid is now in charge of a department with huge claims on the Treasury

John Ferry, The Spectator: Nicola Sturgeon isn’t serious about indyref2

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