Matt Hancock could land five figure sum for resigning as health secretary

That'll soften the blow...

Matt Hancock could receive a whopping £17,000 sum for resigning as health secretary. Hancock stepped down from his post on Saturday afternoon, following revelations in the Sun of an alleged affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo. Former chancellor Sajid Javid will replace him at the department of health, 16 months after he resigned from his position at the treasury. And now, Hancock could bank over £17,000 for resigning, under the 1975 Ministerial Salaries Act. The Act governs the salaries of government officials and would entitle Hancock to receive three months tax free salary, which would amount to £17,918. However, there was no mention of this entitlement in the formal letters exchanged between Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock. But given the public mood towards Hancock at the moment, you can understand why they might want to discuss that more privately. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi has called on Hancock to defer the payment, telling the Spectator: "They've told key workers to suck it up by refusing to give those who've kept us safe during the pandemic a pay rise. This is an insult to working people in this country and Matt Hancock should do the decent thing and decline his egregious golden goodbye payment."