can to continue our search and rescue effort. that is our priority, thatis rescue effort. that is our priority, that is where we are focused and protecting our first responders who are the scene. the number of people infected with the delta variant of coronavirus rises by 46% in a week across the uk. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the health secretary matt hancock has apologised and admitted he breached social distancing guidelines, after the sun newspaper published a photograph of him in an embrace with one his closest aides. the photo is said to have been taken in may, in mr hancock s whitehall office. the prime minister s official spokesman has said
the prime minister s official spokesman has said the prime minister has accepted the health secretary s apology and considers the matter closed. in a statement the health secretary said. 0ur political correspondent ben wright is following developments in westminster. labour will keep up the pressure. they feel there are more questions to answer, not least over how the aide, who matt hancock is photographed embracing on the front page of the sun in his department back in may, how she was appointed in the first place as an unpaid adviser and then appointed to the board that oversees the work of the department as a non executive director. the two are old friends, they go back more than 20 years,
sure, that there was a rule breach here, a breach of the regulations, on the basis that at the time, it was illegal to have any gathering of more than one person anywhere indoors unless an exception applied and the only one that could reasonably be said to apply or possibly said to apply would be that this was reasonably necessary for work purposes, but based on what we know and what we can see in the images, it does not seem that that was reasonably necessary for work purposes. the was reasonably necessary for work uroses. ,, ,., ., purposes. the sun reporting that ha ened purposes. the sun reporting that happened in purposes. the sun reporting that happened in early purposes. the sun reporting that happened in early may, - purposes. the sun reporting that happened in early may, only - purposes. the sun reporting that| happened in early may, only their word on that at this stage. there is a difference here between the legality and the guidelines, right? yes, so at the time, begin
next election, imagine that there are very few people who will say i m not going to vote for matt hancock because during the current vice crisis he did things that i did not approve of. coronavirus crisis. we will have to leave it there, thank you very much forjoining us. holiday companies have expressed frustration at the government s easing of travel restrictions, saying the changes don t go far enough. 16 destinations have been added to the green list, including the spanish balearic islands of ibiza, menorca and majorca as well as malta and madeira. theo leggett has this report. they are quiet right now, but the beaches and bars of ibiza are getting ready for a wave of new arrivals from britain. the balearic island is one of a number of new destinations travellers from the uk will be able to visit without having to quarantine on their return, although they will have to take covid tests before and after their journey. duncan says he can t wait to go
confidence in the sun rules went down dramatically after that, because people thought if there is one rule for them and one for me why should ifollow the rules one rule for them and one for me why should i follow the rules at all? . covid rules. the really important thing is people keep confidence with the rules and ultimately, the buck stops with the health secretary for doing that, so it puts him in a difficult position i think legally and i think in terms of his influence on public behaviour, trust and credibility which is so important in getting us out of this pandemic. fist important in getting us out of this andemic. . ~ important in getting us out of this andemic. ., ~ , ., important in getting us out of this andemic. ., ~ , ., ., pandemic. at him, thank you for “oininu us pandemic. at him, thank you for joining us on pandemic. at him, thank you for joining us on bbc pandemic. at him, thank you for joining us on bbc news, - pandemic. at him, thank you for joining