A COVID campaign group has flown a nine-metre (30ft) protest banner over the I’m A Celebrity camp demanding former health secretary Matt Hancock leaves.
A plane towing the message “COVID bereaved say get out of here” circled the camp in the Australian jungle for two hours.
The protest by group 38 Degrees, which is working with COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, comes after thousands of people signed their petition calling for ITV to reverse its decision to include the West Suffolk MP in the show.
A statement from 38 Degrees, a British non-profit political activism organisation, said his appearance on the show was “sickening”.
Mr Hancock, who had been widely criticised for both his handling of the COVID pandemic and for violating his own regulations when he was caught kissing an aide, was stripped of the Conservative Party whip for appearing on the show.
His inclusion has ignited upset among many who lost relatives to COVID – but Mr Hancock has claimed he did it in order to show his “human side”.
Matthew McGregor of 38 Degrees said: “No one has forgotten how Matt Hancock conducted himself during the COVID-19 pandemic: not the general public, not his camp mates, and certainly not those who lost loved ones.
I’m A Celebrity: Rishi Sunak suggests Matt Hancock’s appearance is not ‘noble’
Matt Hancock on I’m A Celebrity: Could the former health secretary actually win? The contestants – and public – seem to be thawing
Matt Hancock gets stung by a scorpion on I’m A Celebrity
“Our message emblazoned across the skies makes crystal clear to Matt Hancock: you should be representing the people of West Suffolk and giving COVID bereaved families the answers they deserve, rather than playing games for dingo dollars, plastic stars and a £400,000 pay cheque.”
COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK shared the banner-flying stunt on its Twitter account.
The group’s Lobby Akinnola, who lost his father to COVID, said: “He isn’t a ‘celebrity’, he’s the former health secretary who oversaw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from COVID-19 whilst breaking his own lockdown rules.
“His transparent attempt to sell more books and cleanse his public profile has failed, just like the “protective ring” he dared to suggest he had placed around care homes.”
Mr Hancock’s campmates, including singer Boy George and TV journalist Charlene White, have questioned his actions during the pandemic inside the camp.
Read more:
Could Matt Hancock actually win I’m A Celeb?
Sunak suggests Hancock’s appearance not ‘noble’
Boy George has revealed his mother was in hospital during the pandemic and said if she had not survived he would have quit I’m A Celebrity when Matt Hancock entered the jungle.
The MP has been voted by the public to undertake all the first six Bushtucker Trial challenges to win food for the camp.
In urging people to sign its petition, 38 Degrees, whose slogan is People, Power Change, said: “Families were ripped apart by Matt Hancock’s actions, and turning on the TV to see him being paraded around as a joke is sickening.
“You can run to the jungle, but you can’t hide from reality.”
Mr Hancock had confessed earlier in the show that he was seeking “forgiveness”.
