Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed he has booked a summer holiday to Cornwall, despite the fact everyone else is currently being told not to by people within his own government.
Just 24 hours before Hancock confirmed his planned getaway, Transport Minister Grant Shapps and Boris Johnson both warned that the British public shouldn't book holidays.
Hancock highlighted the 'uncertainty' regarding the eventual easing of lockdown measures, and said he and the rest of the government are doing 'everything we possibly can' to ensure people can get away, even if it's just within the UK.
In a variety of broadcast interviews, Hancock said the public need to be 'patient' and wait for more information regarding whether they get a holiday this summer.
However, according to Huff Post, he confirmed to a group of MPs he hasn't been so patient, having already booked a getaway to Cornwall.
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Hancock later confirmed this when asked about it by LBC today (11 February), saying: "I booked a place months ago and of course I hope to but there is this uncertainty that we all talk about."
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the decision to book holidays was a matter for 'individuals' but Mr Johnson himself later said it was 'too early' to say.
Keeping up?
Hancock said last month he was planning to get away to a holiday destination within Britain, and said he is optimistic there will be a 'great British summer' in 2021.
Asking if he was still behind that message on BBC Radio 4, he said: "Well I very much hope so.
"But there is of course uncertainty. As the PM set out yesterday, we do have to be patient."
He continued: "What I can tell you is we are all working incredibly hard to try to ensure that not only people can have a holiday this summer, but also, even before then, people can see loved ones and we get life more back to normal.
"It is too early to say when and the PM will set out more details in the week beginning February 22."
In a later interview with BBC Breakfast, Hancock said the success of the vaccine rollout would have a marked effect on people's ability to take a holiday.
He told the show: "We are doing everything that we possibly can to make sure that people can have a holiday this summer but the vaccine rollout is absolutely essential to that.
"We will set out more in more detail when we can, but at the moment unfortunately there is that uncertainty still.
"But because things like the vaccine rollout are going well, that is the progress that people want to see, but nevertheless there is still the uncertainty over where we will be by the summer, of course there is, and people understand that."
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