UK: Matt Hancock's leaked Covid messages revive painful pandemic debates

Former British Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who stepped down from the post in 2021 for violating Covid rules by having an affair with an aide, is back in news due to the leak of over 100,000 WhatsApp messages sent between him and other ministers and officials at the height of the Covid pandemic. Hancock shared the messages with journalist Isabel Oakeshott as they were working on a book- Pandemic Diaries. 

Oakeshott, in turn, handed the messages to the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper analysed messages containing 2.3 million words. According to the report by the Daily Telegraph on Thursday (March 2), the conversations shed light on issues such as lockdowns, testing, care home deaths and the closure of schools. 

The messages so far have been leaked from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson; England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty; Simon Case, who is now serving as the cabinet secretary; Johnson’s former director of communications Lee Cain, and Hancock’s adviser Emma Dean. The messages have revived painful debates in the country that has lost more than 182,000 people to Covid. 

On Thursday, Matt Hancock apologised for the impact of the leaks “on the very many people — political colleagues, civil servants and friends — who worked hard with me to get through the pandemic and save lives.”

He accused Isabel Oakeshott of a massive betrayal and breach of trust. 

“I will not be commenting further on any other stories or false allegations that Isabel will make. I will respond to the substance in the appropriate place, at the inquiry, so that we can properly learn all the lessons based on a full and objective understanding of what happened in the pandemic, and why,” the former health secretary said in a statement. 

Hancock also pointed out he already gave the messages to a public inquiry into the country's handling of the pandemic, which is due to start hearings later this year, the news agency AP reported on Thursday. 

Oakeshott, meanwhile, argued that she acted in the public interest. Speaking to the BBC, Oakeshott said "This is about the millions of people, every one of us in this country that were adversely affected by the catastrophic decisions to lock down this country repeatedly, often on the flimsiest of evidence for political reasons."

Critics have hit out at Oakeshott by saying the journalist has a well-known political agenda. The AP report said that Oakeshott called lockdowns a disaster and her partner is Richard Tice, leader of the lockdown-sceptical Reform Party. 

Steven Barnett, a professor of journalism at the University of Westminster, said the leak of the WhatsApp messages was less about public interest than “about driving an agenda that says the lockdown policies were wrong.”

On Thursday, Isabel Oakeshott also said her relationship with Matt Hancock soured after he abandoned her in the middle of writing their book to appear on the television series- I'm a Celebrity. Speaking to the Guardian, Oakeshott said she spent all her energy into co-writing Hancock’s books, only for him to vanish while arguing with the government about what could be published. 
 

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