Coronavirus: Rosena Allin-Khan hits out at health secretary Matt Hancock

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The health secretary’s comment came after Rosena Allin-Khan told him during a House of Commons debate that the government’s failings on testing had condemned many families to being “unnecessarily torn apart in grief” and urged him to commit to conducting 100,000 tests daily. It sparked outrage among opposition MPs including former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, who branded the health secretary’s words ”creepy” and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, who said: “Matt Hancock’s tone should change, not Rosena’s. And does the secretary of state acknowledge that many frontline workers feel that the government’s lack of testing has cost lives and is responsible for many families being unnecessarily torn apart in grief?” Mr Hancock, who was in the Commons to answer an urgent question from Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth, responded: ”I welcome the Honourable Lady to her post as part of the shadow health team. Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said it was “no way for the Health Secretary to speak to a serving A&E doctor,” adding that Mr Hancock should apologise for “telling Dr Rosena to ‘watch her tone’ after asking a perfectly factual question.” Ms Harman said: “Something creepy about a man telling a woman to watch her tone!