Matt Hancock's racing links raise questions about timing of coronavirus lockdown

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EXCLUSIVE: The Health Secretary is under renewed pressure to explain why the Cheltenham Festival was allowed to go ahead after it was revealed he had received £350,000 in political donations from wealthy figures in horse racing

 

Matt Hancock is under renewed pressure over why Cheltenham ­Festival was allowed to go ahead this year, as the Mirror reveals his links to the horse-racing industry.

 

The Health Secretary has “serious questions to answer” about the controversial decision which was made despite calls for mass gatherings to be axed due to the risks of spreading Covid-19.

 

Letting 250,000 people attend the four-day horse-racing event, ending on March 13, is likely to be scrutinised in the independent inquiry which Boris Johnson now accepts must take place.

 

Mr Hancock faced criticism after claiming the lockdown started “precisely” on March 16 – a week before the full lockdown was announced.

 

The UK’s official Covid-19 death toll rose yesterday by 27 to 45,300, although the real figure is believed to be higher.

 

Our probe revealed Mr Hancock has benefitted from more than £350,000 in political donations from wealthy figures in horse racing.

 

It includes £140,000 from racehorse owner Bill Gredley’s Unex property business, and £132,400 from horse auctioneer Tattersalls.

 

Mr Hancock was twice wined and dined for free at the festival during his time at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

 

The £1,450 monthly rent for his ex-constituency home, a Grade II-listed property on the Thurlow Estate near Newmarket in his constituency of West Suffolk, was reimbursed by tax­­­payers via expenses. His landlords were the Vestey family.

 

Lord Vestey was chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse for 21 years.

 

His son William Vestey is on the Jockey Club’s Cheltenham Racecourse Committee, which organises the annual festival.

 

Figures for the first month of lockdown show that Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS trust, which covers Cheltenham, recorded 125 Covid-19 deaths, more than double that in two nearby trusts at Bristol, which had 58 each.

 

Mr Hancock was asked in April if the festival should have taken place.

 

He said: “We followed the scientific advice. Broadly, I think we took the right measures at the right time.” A source close to Mr Hancock said: “These lurid suggestions are nothing more than a tin hat conspiracy theory.

 

“Of course Matt is a fan of horse racing – he is the MP for Newmarket.”

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throwing little matty under the bus , he is not capable of lying  the government,s way out  " over exaggerated deaths "  from covid19 ...  

[Disco Bob]

Boris Johnson 'hosted a babyshower at Chequers for Carrie Symonds' just days before the lockdown on 14th march and lockdown was 23rd march

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8388005/Boris-Johnson-hosted-babyshower-Chequers-Carrie-Symonds-just-days-lockdown-started.html

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1 hour ago, Disco Bob said:

Boris Johnson 'hosted a babyshower at Chequers for Carrie Symonds' just days before the lockdown on 14th march and lockdown was 23rd march

 

 

Oh oh.  Wasn't it about April 5, 2020 when BoJo was admitted to the hospital suffering from Covid-19 symtoms.  Thought I read about his condition was already 10 days old.  That put's BoJo's experiencee with Covid-19 back to atleast March 25, 2020.  Symptom onset is somewhere in the vicinity of 4 to 6 days, give or take, or about March 19, 2020, as the date of infection.  Hey, March 14 or March 19, those dates are pretty close. for me.  Boros getting ill after hosting the babyshower, likely just a bad coincidence.

[dufus]

or a ruse ....

 

1. a trick, stratagem, or artifice.

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