Matt Hancock allowed to use ridiculous excuse to keep job, says LabourMatt Hancock allowed to use ridiculous excuse to keep job, says Labour

The health secretary was judged guilty on Friday of a "minor" breach of the ministerial standards code. Lord Geidt, the PM's standards adviser, said Mr Hancock had not been awake that a firm co-owned by his sister had become an approved NHS supplier. He said Mr Hancock should not lose his job over it - a decision Labour says sets a "concerning precedent". Ministers have traditionally been expected to resign when they are found to have broken the ministerial code. The company, which specialises in the secure storage, shredding and scanning of documents, was awarded approved supplier status by NHS in England in February 2019, seven months after Mr Hancock had become health secretary It also won £300,000 of business from NHS Wales this year. Mr Hancock said he had not been involved in the company in February 2019 and "did not know" about its NHS supplier status, so did not think he could "reasonably have been expected to declare it". Lord Geidt ruled: "I believe there to be a danger that a reasonable person might perceive this link to represent a conflict of interest, and that it should have been declared at the time." But he added the failure to declare the curiosity was due to Mr Hancock's "lack of knowledge" of the company's status as an approved NHS supplier and was "in