Arthur Greene
The United Nations has withdrawn its offer of a role of special envoy to the UK’s calamitous former health minister, Matt Hancock, after the news was met with a wave of public outrage.
Hancock said last week that he was “honoured” to have been offered the role, which would have involved helping Africa’s economy recover from the damage caused by the pandemic.
However, the news was met with overwhelming perplexity and anger in both Africa and Europe.
Not only did Hancock oversee one of the world’s most disastrous responses to the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, but he “helped to block” developing nations from producing their own Covid vaccines.
Nick Dearden, director of campaign group Global Justice Now, wrote: “Matt Hancock helped to block international efforts to allow low and middle-income countries to produce their own Covid-19 vaccines, leading to millions of deaths in the global south.
“The audacity of this man claiming to help African nations and promote sustainable development is sickening.”
On Friday, the UN’s official spokesperson said that the former health minister’s appointment would not be taken forward.
The next day, Hancock said that the offer was withdrawn because “a technical UN rule has subsequently come to light.”
The rule, he said, was that “sitting members of parliament cannot also be UN special representatives.”
However, there have been previous examples of sitting MPs taking on roles with the UN. Former prime minister Gordon Brown was appointed as a special envoy in 2012.
Matt Hancock resigned as health minister in June after footage emerged of him kissing and groping an aide in his office during the height of the UK’s lockdown.
Image source: @labourlewis
