Matt Hancock: Leaked messages suggest plan to frighten public – BBC News

Matt Hancock suggested to an aide that they "Frighten the pants off everyone" about Covid, messages published by the Sunday Telegraph show.

More than 100,000 WhatsApp messages were leaked to the Telegraph by the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who has been a vocal critic of lockdowns.

The former health secretary has repeatedly criticised the leaks, referring to the published messages as a "Partial, biased account to suit an anti-lockdown agenda.”

In an exchange between Mr Hancock and an aide from 13th December 2020 – five days before the government scrapped plans to relax rules for many over Christmas – the former health secretary discusses when to "Deploy" the announcement of the new variant.

Mr Hancock says: "We frighten the pants of everyone with the new strain.”

In a separate WhatsApp conversation from January 2021, when lockdown measures were in place, Mr Hancock is seen discussing possible changes with Mr Case.

Other messages from October 2020 appear to show Mr Case suggesting coronavirus guidance should be delivered by "Trusted local figures, not nationally distrusted figures like the PM, sadly".

In a statement responding to the leaks, Mr Hancock said: "There is absolutely no public interest case for this huge breach. All the materials for the book have already been made available to the Inquiry, which is the right, and only, place for everything to be considered properly and the right lessons to be learned."As we have seen, releasing them in this way gives a partial, biased account to suit an anti-lockdown agenda.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the government's Northern Ireland secretary, told BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the messages give "almost a view into the psyche of Mr Hancock rather than into the actual decision-making".

Labour's Jonathan Ashworth – who was shadow health secretary during the pandemic – said there were always "two sides to a story" but many people will be "deeply troubled" by the messages.

In other newly-released leaked messages, Mr Johnson spoke of the need to get "absolutely militant" on social distancing in Covid hotspots, saying there had been a "general collapse" in rule following.

A collection of more than 100,000 messages sent between former Health Secretary Matt Hancock and other ministers and officials at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic have been obtained by the Telegraph.