Matt Hancock says Covid messages leak a massive betrayal

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02nd Mar, 2023. 08:17 pm
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Matt Hancock accused Isabel Oakeshott of a “huge betrayal and breach of trust”.
For releasing WhatsApps he sent while working on Covid.
Isabel Oakeshott defended her decision to release 100,000 texts.

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock charged a journalist with a “huge betrayal and breach of trust” when she published messages he sent while working on Covid.

Isabel Oakeshott defended releasing WhatsApps she obtained when working on Mr. Hancock’s book, arguing it was in the “overwhelming national interest”.

However, Mr. Hancock said the messages were released in a “biased account to suit an anti-lockdown agenda”.

He also denied her claim he had sent her a “menacing” message over the leak.

More than 100,000 WhatsApp communications pertaining to Mr. Hancock’s tenure as health secretary during the height of the pandemic have been provided to The Telegraph.

Earlier this week, it started to publish the texts.

In a statement released on Thursday morning Mr. Hancock said: “When I heard confused rumors of a publication late on Tuesday night, I called and messaged Isabel to ask her if she had ‘any clues’ about it, and got no response.

“When I then saw what she’d done, I messaged to say it was ‘a big mistake’. Nothing more.”

The public inquiry into the pandemic, according to Mr. Hancock, is the appropriate venue for analysis of what transpired. He promised to address the “content” of charges at the hearing.

He apologized to those whose messages had been published by the Daily Telegraph, saying: “I am also sorry for the impact on the very many people – political colleagues, civil servants and friends – who worked hard with me to get through the pandemic and save lives.”

“Isabel and I had worked closely together for more than a year on my book, based on legal confidentiality and a process approved by the Cabinet Office. Isabel repeatedly reiterated the importance of trust throughout, and then broke that trust.”

The WhatsApp leaks

The Telegraph has obtained a compilation of more than 100,000 texts exchanged between former health secretary Matt Hancock and other ministers and staff at the height of the Covid-19 outbreak. Following are our reports on the leaks:

Ms. Oakeshott, TalkTV’s foreign editor, who has been critical of lockdowns, forwarded the texts to the newspaper. While assisting Mr. Hancock with the writing of his book, Pandemic Diaries, she was given copies of the manuscripts.

Ms. Oakeshott has strongly defended her decision to release the messages saying she was someone “acting in the overwhelming national interest”. She has not revealed how much she has been paid by the Telegraph.

“Anyone who thinks I did this for money must be utterly insane,” she told media.

“This is about the millions of people, every one of us in this country, that were adversely affected by the catastrophic decision to lockdown the country repeatedly on the flimsiest of evidence, often for the political reasons.

“I wanted to get to the truth of it,” she said.

Asked when she told Mr. Hancock she would share the messages, she replied: “I didn’t tell him.”

“Not one journalist worth their salt would sit on a cache of information in such an important matter, such a historic matter and cover that up,” she said.

Pressed on the claim that Mr. Hancock sent her a menacing message following the leaks, Ms. Oakeshott said: “I’m saying that he sent me a message at 01.20 in the morning. It wasn’t a pleasant message.”

She also acknowledged that she had violated the terms of the non-disclosure agreement she had signed before collaborating on Mr. Hancock’s book and receiving access to all of his correspondence.

In a later statement issued through the Daily Telegraph responding to Mr. Hancock’s accusations, Ms. Oakeshott said: “I make no apology whatsoever for acting in the national interest: the worst betrayal of all would be to cover up these truths.”

Matt Hancock says Covid messages leak a massive betrayal

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