Matt Hancock fights back tears in Commons

Health Secretary Matt Hancock fought back tears as he revealed his step-grandfather caught Covid-19 in Liverpool and died on November 18.

The Health Secretary told MPs of the death within his family as he concluded the six-hour debate on the new tier restrictions to be implemented in England from Wednesday to replace the national lockdown.

He told the Commons: "In my family, as in so many others, we've lost a loving husband, a father, a grandfather to this awful disease".

The Health Secretary added "from the bottom of my heart I want to say thank you to everyone in Liverpool for getting this awful virus under control".

"It's down by four-fifths in Liverpool", he continued, "that's what we can do if we work together in a spirit of common humanity.

We've got to beat this, we've got to beat it together." Report by Thomasl.

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