Phillip Schofield asks if Hancock social distancing breach caused by dyslexia

TV presenter Phillip Schofield has questioned whether former health secretary Matt Hancock broke social distancing rules because of his dyslexia.

Mr Hancock, who resigned in June after admitting to breaching Covid-19 restrictions, is calling for all children to be screened for dyslexia before they leave primary school.

He will introduce a Dyslexia Screening Bill on Tuesday in the House of Commons.

Appearing on This Morning, Mr Hancock was asked by host Schofield: “Was it your dyslexia that meant you misread the social distancing rules?”

Mr Hancock resigned as health secretary five months ago after leaked CCTV footage showed him kissing an aide, in breach of social distancing rules he had helped establish.

He replied: “No, I can’t blame that on dyslexia or anything else. In fact, I am not asking for any special favours because I am dyslexic.

“In politics I have got some things to offer. In that case, that was a mistake and I have apologised for it.

“It was a failure of leadership because I came on shows like this and asked people to do things and I didn’t follow the those rules myself.”

On his successor in the role, Mr Hancock said: “I think that Sajid Javid, who’s doing the job, is doing an excellent job.”

Asked by Schofield whether Mr Javid was doing a better job, he replied: “Who knows? Because there’s so many uncertainties and new things hitting us like the new Omicron variant, but I think he’s doing a great job.

“But, you know, in those jobs, the pressures are big but that’s no excuse. It was a failure of leadership on my part and I’ve apologised for that.”

One person tweeted: "A totally unnecessary comment! He was there to speak seriously about dyslexia!"

Another said: "That was rude!"

A third said: "That comment really got my back up when such an important topic is being discussed."

A fourth poster added: "What a very childish way to ask a question from Phillip Schofield, if u r gonna as the question Just ask the question like a grown up. I assume Matt Hancock came on the show to talk about the difficulties of living with dyslexia not have a joke made out of it, grow up."

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling, but unlike a learning disability, intelligence is not affected.

Mr Hancock was not diagnosed with dyslexia until he went to Oxford University.