Matt Hancock wanted to ‘get heavy’ with police to crack down on Covid rule breakers, WhatsApp leak says

Ministers and senior government officials discussed wanting to “get heavy” with the police in a bid to crack down on Covid rule breakers, it had emerged.

In the latest release of leaked WhatsApp messages by The Daily Telegraph, then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock was eager for police officers to get tough on people breaching Covid lockdown regulations to help stop the spread of the virus.

The newspaper highlighted an exchange between Hancock and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case from August 2020, in which Case raised the question: “Who actually is delivering enforcement?”

Hancock replied: “I think we are going to have to get heavy with the police”, prompting Case to point out that they were due to have a roundtable meeting with ministers and the “cops”.

Following another meeting in January 2021 involving former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Hancock messaged Case to tell him that the “PM was in vg shape” and that “the plod got their marching orders”.

Just days later an event was held at 10 Downing Street which the Metropolitan Police later said breached Covid rules in place at the time.

For Labour, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the exchanges revealed the “arrogance and shameful lack of respect” of ministers towards the police. She said: “At the same time as they were flagrantly breaking the law themselves with their lockdown parties, they were demanding stronger enforcement by the police on everyone else.”

The exchanges were among more than 100,000 messages passed to The Telegraph by journalist Isabel Oakeshott. She was originally given the material by Hancock while they were collaborating on his memoir of his time in government during the pandemic.

Hancock has condemned the leak as a “massive betrayal” designed to support an “anti-lockdown agenda”, but Ms Oakeshott has insisted the release was “overwhelmingly” in the public interest.

The former Health Secretary has strongly denied the allegations made in the Telegraph series and is reportedly considering legal action. NationalWorld has not seen or independently verified the WhatsApp messages, which have not been fully released.

What else has been alleged?

In other exchanges, Hancock and Case joked about travellers arriving in the UK being “locked up” in quarantine hotels, with the Cabinet Secretary saying it was “hilarious”.

In one exchange in February 2021, the then-Health Secretary said they were “giving big families all the big suites and putting pop stars in the box rooms”. Case replied: “I just want to see some of the faces of people coming out of first class into a premier inn shoe box.”

A few days later, Case asked how many people had been “locked up” in hotels the previous day, to which Hancock responded: “None. But 149 chose to enter the country and are now in Quarantine Hotels due to their own free will!”. Case then replied: “Hilarious.”

Hancock also allegedly shared a news story about a man and a woman who were fined £10,000 each for failing to quarantine with Johnson, who is said to have replied: “Superb”.

The Telegraph said the messages also showed Hancock wanted his team to contact the Home Office after a news report suggested ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage broke quarantine rules after returning from a trip to the US. His special adviser Jamie Njoku-Goodwin replied: “Does he count as a pub hooligan? Can we lock him up?” Hancock then said his case should be dealt with “like any other”.

In March 2021, when Piers Morgan left ITV’s Good Morning Britain – where he had a reputation for giving ministers a hard time over Covid – Social Care Minister Helen Whatley joked they should “celebrate” at the department’s team meeting that evening. Hancock allegedly messaged back: “Perfect.”

Elsewhere, in November 2020, Johnson expressed concern that he had “blinked too soon” in ordering a second lockdown based on modelling that was “very wrong”.

Months earlier in June, the then-Prime Minister discussed speeding up plans to lift restrictions following the first lockdown, but was warned by his media advisers they were “too far ahead of public opinion”.

What has Isabel Oakeshott said?

Ms Oakeshott confirmed she had broken a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Hancock, but argued her action was overwhelmingly in the “public interest”.

In a written statement issued via the Telegraph, she said: “Hard though it may be for him to believe, this isn’t about Matt Hancock, or indeed any other individual politician. Nor is it about me. The greatest betrayal is of the entire country.

“We were all let down by the response to the pandemic and repeated unnecessary lockdowns. Children in particular paid a terrible price. Anyone who questioned an approach we now know was fatally flawed was utterly vilified, including highly respected and eminent public health experts, doctors and scientists.

“So far from being protected, the NHS may never recover, as millions of patients condemned to year-long waiting lists are discovering. Meanwhile the economy is in smithereens. It is now essential that the public inquiry, set up almost two years ago, quickly establishes deadlines for its work and answers the urgent question about whether lockdown, with all its impacts, was proportionate. These issues must be addressed well before the next general election.

“Against this backdrop, the Telegraph expose is clearly in the overwhelming public interest. The outpouring of support I and the paper have had from ordinary people who suffered – and are still suffering – the consequences of the mistakes we are exposing shows how desperately the nation wants answers. I make no apology whatsoever for acting in the national interest: the worst betrayal of all would be to cover up these truths.”