matt hancock has resigned. pressure had been mounting for him to step down throughout the day. in a letter to i understand the enormous sacrifices that everyone in this country has made. that you have made. and those of us who make these rules have got

to stick by them and that is why i have got to resign. the prime minister gave his backing to matt hancock yesterday? the? to matt hancock yesterday? they wanted to ride _ to matt hancock yesterday? they wanted to ride out _ to matt hancock yesterday? they wanted to ride out the _ to matt hancock yesterday? tie: wanted to ride out the storm to matt hancock yesterday? tie11. wanted to ride out the storm and today, numberten wanted to ride out the storm and today, number ten repeated their view that this matter was closed and yet it was clear matt hancock would remain under considerable pressure if you did not stand down. he broke his own rules and that was conte problematic. did not stand down. he broke its own rules on social distancing, that was going to be problematic as he continued to lead government efforts on the pandemic. there was deafening silence from tory mps, they were not coming onto the air all social media to defend him. he looked a solitary figure. it was his decision to resign, in his letter he says he wants to apologise to family and loved ones for putting them through this. we loved ones for putting them through this. ~ . . ., this. we will have much more in the late news at _ this. we will have much more in the late news at ten _ this. we will have much more in the late news at ten 10pm, _ this. we will have much more in the late news at ten 10pm, but - this. we will have much more in the late news at ten 10pm, but for - this. we will have much more in the| late news at ten 10pm, but for now, goodbye.

my my colleague has been speaking to the conservative mp. he my colleague has been speaking to the conservative mp.— my colleague has been speaking to the conservative mp. he has done the riaht the conservative mp. he has done the ri . ht thin the conservative mp. he has done the right thing for — the conservative mp. he has done the right thing for the _ the conservative mp. he has done the right thing for the country _ the conservative mp. he has done the right thing for the country for - the conservative mp. he has done the right thing for the country for the - right thing for the country for the department of health, and for the government ultimately. and as you have pointed out, it is ok for any cabinet _ have pointed out, it is ok for any cabinet minister to have the confidence of the prime minister but every— confidence of the prime minister but every cabinet minister also needs to have the _ every cabinet minister also needs to have the confidence of the public, in particular the secretary of state for health — in particular the secretary of state for health during a pandemic. and what has been clear of the past 24 hours is that for a sizeable minority or majority of the public they no longer had confidence in matt hancock. it was not the affair. it was the apparent hypocrisy of being someone who made the rules but then broke their own rules and that— made his position untenable at any time and particularly during a

pandemic which is still some weeks before we get to freedom day. should the prime minister have realised that 2a hours ago? i think the prime minister thought it would blow over but it was clear the media would not let this issue drop. there will be more stories in the paper tomorrow. i willjust come back from a day of campaigning and it is an issue on _ the doorsteps and is a distraction from the by—election up there and his position had become untenable. it was headlines for several days and in the last 24 hours it is clear from my inbox and lots of conservative mp colleagues and other colleagues in the house that public opinion is that he had to go and he _ has done the right thing now. we know that at the time pretty patel was under pressure to resign, there were no backbenchers coming out to defend mr hancock and was that significant to you?

yes. it is a brutal game, politics, and when you are in trouble in a situation like this, very few colleagues will come out and defend you. to an extent i think, was anyone going to die in a ditch when they felt matt hancock had dug the ditch himself? i don't think so. the other question is the departure of the woman who was in those photographs, ms coladangelo. it is at the end of the matter or other questions for you that remain over the role she was performing in the department of health on the board? i don't think her departure will end the questions of her role, given the way this situation has played out, though i have not heard anyone raise questions about her ability to perform the role she was doing on the board. in terms of the gap now,

how quickly do you want a new health secretary in place? the prime minister will have to move fast because we are still in a pandemic. there are people who have got experience running the health service you are i am sure available and other experienced cabinet ministers who could be moved across but i would expect that we will have an announcement in a matter of hours. something you said in the course of the interview was that you think there will be more stories tomorrow. is that part of the background to this, do you think? the decision. i think it became evident that there were going to be more revelations about the story and obviously that was further undermining public confidence in the secretary of state for health. and that is absolutely essential for every cabinet minister not only to the confidence of the prime minister but also the country. and you can't run health policy during a pandemic where you need compliance

with rules that take away peoples freedom is when people have no confidence in the person making the rules. there is an important decision to be made looking towardsjuly 19, by the prime minister. does this help or hinder him at all? because in a sense, there are a lot of people in the conservative parliamentary party, you been one of them, have been uneasy about the way this has continued and the effect on the economy and peoples individual freedom, big march in central london today of anti—lockdown protesters. how much of the public that represents i don't know but evidence people are out there. do you think this is going to be a problem. i think unfortunately, we have got to i think we are fortunatew e we have got to nearly the end of the pandemic effectively. personally i would have liked to have unlocked faster than we have. i think any enquiry into the way

the government has handled the pandemic will have to take massive account of the long—term effects of the lockdown on mental health well—being, damaged nhf itself in the backlog of patients that would take a long time to be dealt with and also the damage we have done to our economy. and that has to be balanced with the fact that it is clear now that figures showing that other infections are increasing there are resistant populations and younger people. the broken link with infections and hospitalisations and thankfully fatalities. that is a fact and i voted against the government's extension to the lockdown the other week. and i think it should be freedom day on the 19th ofjuly. obviously a lot of the work that matt hancock needed to do has been done and we thank him for his efforts. it has been an unenviable job over the last 18 months.

and he has handled it as well as anyone could when there is no government knowledge, no history out there to— draw on with it the last time your in this situation was 100 years ago. do you think his departure removes an obstacle for colleagues like yourself who felt that perhaps some people in government were a bit to too kind of gung ho about lockdown? i think it is highly likely that we are going to be having our freedom day on the 19th ofjuly. i don't think anything will change that now and i think even matt hancock of the most lockdown key of the cabinet ministers have to accept we must have our freedom on the 19th of july. the country has been through a lot and made huge sacrifices but once people see the science from themselves compliance with any lockdown rules on public enthusiasm

will wane very, very quickly. mr hancock released a short resignation statement via twitter — this is what he had to say. i have been to see the prime minister to resign as secretary of state for health and social care. i understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made, that you have made, and those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that's why i have got to resign. i want to thank people for their incredible sacrifices and what they have done. everybody working in the nhs, across social care, everyone involved in the vaccine programme and frankly, everybody in this country. who has risen to the challenges that we have seen over this past 18 months. i'm very proud of what we have done to protect the nhs at the peak,

to deliver that vaccine roll—out, one of the fastest in the world. and i look forward to supporting the government and the prime minister from the backbenches to make sure that we can get out of this pandemic. we are so close to the end and then build back better so that this country can fulfil its potential, which is so great and i will do that with all of my heart. that was the statement issued on twitter short time ago. rivka gottlieb is from the campain group the covid nineteen bereaved families forjustice.

with shots of him in an embrace, is that the last straw? is that quite trivial in the context of your criticism of the government? i think it is the last straw but many of us are wondering why it has taken a personal scandal for the health secretary to resign when he has such an appalling record as the health secretary. the bungled test and trace, ppe procurement. it has been a catalogue of absolute disaster. the prime minister in his letter said he should leave office very proud of what he achieved not just in tackling the pandemic but even before covid struck. i fail to see what he should be proud of other

than perhaps the vaccine roll—out which has been very effective. other than that i really cannot see anything from matt hancock to be proud of. what, there will be a new health secretary. from where you sit as one of the relatives, of one of the many families have suffered as part of this pandemic but what are you expecting? what would you hope the person who takes the job will learn from what has happened in the last year? we have to plan for the future, notjust for the immediate crisis. absolutely. and what we have been campaigning for is a rapid review and we want a public enquiry to start much sooner. next year is way too late. it needs to start immediately precisely so that lessons can be learned. we will have much more on this story and any further developments on who will replace matt hancock in the news at 8pm. now it is drawing! time

tojoin the team news at 8pm. now it is drawing! time to join the team for sports day. (sport good evening. a packed saturday of sport to bring you on sportsday this evening including... the great danes prove too strong as wales are knocked out of the european championship. the british and irish lions warm up for their tour to south africa by beating japan — but it comes at a cost... and there are plenty of battered and bruised riders on a dramatic first stage of the tour de france. hello and welcome to sportsday. we'll tell you about an upset in the premiership rugby final and bring you f1 and athletics too but we'll start with euro 2020 where a journey that took wales to baku, to rome and to amsterdam

has now come to an end. hopes of emulating their run to the semi finals 5 years ago were unceremoniously ended in the last 16 by denmark this afternoon. captain gareth bale said he was still proud of the side following their 4—0 defeat but admitted they missed an opportunity. adam wild reports... in amsterdam, denmark were everywhere. covid restrictions made it all but impossible for wales fans to travel, the few that did somehow make it were doing their best to make it were doing their best to make up for it. the denmark bring their own emotion. christian eriksen remains foremost in football thoughts as he recovers, clear to all this moment that really mattered. outnumber of the fuel, on it, we all started stronger. gareth bale getting close. caspar dahlberg cross effort was quite brilliant. bringing to the emotion powering the

team forward. in truth, things have got worse for wales before half—time. clinging on for the break. still, that would not save them for long. moments after the restart, poor defending and kasper dolberg had his second. their third was no more than they deserved from joakim m hle, the kind of celebrations they as a nation not so long ago might have thought impossible. the knockout blow then for wales, impossible. the knockout blow then forwales, harry impossible. the knockout blow then for wales, harry wilson's red card not quite the final insult. that came from martin braithwaite. his goal made it four. denmark's extraordinary tournament goes on. for wales, extraordinary tournament goes on. forwales, nothing extraordinary tournament goes on. for wales, nothing but desperate disappointment. to finish how we did is disappointing, but the boys are frustrated and angry, it's

understandable and i would rather we go out like