Matt Hancock tried to ‘frighten pants off’ public with new Covid-19 strain
Matt Hancock said he wanted to “frighten the pants off everyone” to ensure compliance with Covid-19 restrictions, according to leaked WhatsApp messages published by the Telegraph.
Revelations have continued after a tranche of more than 100,000 messages was shared by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, leading to outcry over government actions during the pandemic.
The latest set of texts show the former ‘I’m A Celebrity’ contestant and others discussing how to use an announcement about the Kent variant of the virus to scare the public into changing their behaviour.
In December 2020, texts appeared to show Hancock’s adviser saying: “Rather than doing too much forward signalling, we can roll pitch with the new strain.”
The then-health secretary responded: “We frighten the pants off everyone with the new strain.”
Amid concerns about the rapid spread of the virus in south-east England, before a new strain was announced on December 14, he added: “When do we deploy the new variant.”
Leaks have previously revealed prime minister Rishi Sunak and Hancock complained about Dominic Cummings’ “nightmare” tenure in No10 as well Hancock expressing concern about the then-chancellor’s so-called ‘eat out to help out’ scheme helping to spread the virus.
It came as a government minister repeatedly insisted then-prime minister Boris Johnson had not misled Parliament over the partygate scandal, amid a shock move by top civil servant Sue Gray to a key Labour Party post as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
Speaking on Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said Johnson, who is set to be grilled by MPs on March 20, is “100%” a man of integrity, adding: “I do not believe for one second Boris knowingly misled Parliament.
“I don’t think he will be found to have misled Parliament. In this country, you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty. I’m absolutely convinced Boris did not knowingly mislead Parliament.”
But asked on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, he denied this was the “official position” and said the government “would wait to see” what the parliamentary process found.
Oakeshott originally received the texts in the course of her work ghostwriting Hancock’s Pandemic Diaries book – his memoir of his time in government during the coronavirus crisis, during which he made headlines for breaking social distancing guidelines with girlfriend Gina Coladangelo.
He has condemned the leak as a “massive betrayal” in support of an “anti-lockdown agenda”, and said all the WhatsApps had been shared with the official Covid-19 inquiry.
But Oakeshott said her disclosures were in the public interest to ensure lessons were learned ahead of the emergence of another pandemic virus.