Matt Hancock’s latest public appearance has been torn apart by a fellow Conservative MP for promoting cryptocurrency in a rather unusual setting.
In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday, the former health secretary claims crypto will “accelerate growth” while making financial systems more transparent and reducing crime.
However, his serious speech to the London Crypto Club appears to have been undermined by the current cost of living crisis – and his decision to stand in front of a video of a log fire.
Tory MP for Kingswood Chris Skidmore replied to Hancock’s promotional video by pointing out that this probably wasn’t the best time to promote cryptocurrency.
Skidmore – formerly a science, research and innovation minister – tweeted: “The average household uses 242kwh of electricity a month.
“A single bitcoin transaction uses 1,173kwh of electricity.
“At a time when we need greater energy security to meet demand, that’s a lot of electric logs to be throwing on the fire....”
Yearly energy bills have increased by an average of £700 from this month – meaning cryptocurrency is probably the last thing on many people’s minds.
And Skidmore wasn’t the only one being critical towards the Hancock’s new focus on crypto and his firey backdrop.
It wasn’t such a good day for Hancock in general, as the news also broke that something else he previously championed has flopped.
Remdesivir – a drug aimed at hospitalised Covid patients – failed to deliver in trials, even though Hancock called it the “biggest step forward in the treatment of coronavirus since the crisis began” back in May 2020.
Since leaving Boris Johnson’s cabinet last year, after breaching social distancing rules, almost all of Hancock’s public appearances have been heavily criticised.
ITV’s Lorraine Kelly dubbed him a “pound shop Milk Tray man”, while his very brief appointment as the UN Special Envoy in Africa left social media furious.