In the words of that great song from the 1942 movie
Casablanca, “you must remember this / a kiss is just a kiss". That may be true for Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but a kiss has become much more than just a kiss for one of Britain’s most important government ministers, Matt Hancock. It is a scandal and the kiss of political death for Mr Hancock, while being hugely embarrassing for his boss, Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
As health secretary, Mr Hancock has been forced to quit as the key politician in charge of the fight against coronavirus. When a tabloid newspaper published pictures of him caught on camera in government offices kissing a woman who is not his wife, it’s become much more than private embarrassment.