Downing Street suspected Matt Hancock was a “chatty rat” who leaked details of the second lockdown to the media, according to private communications recently released by the Covid investigation agency.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case sent a text message to Sir Chris Wormold, the Department of Health’s most senior official, telling him Hancock was in No 10’s crosshairs for alleged blame for the leak.
Boris Johnson was forced to announce a second month-long Covid lockdown in November 2020 after the plans were leaked to some newspapers.
This led to a six-month hunt in Whitehall for the so-called “talking rat”, but the “licker” was never identified. At the time, Hancock denied any involvement in the leak and said in his memoirs that he believed Dominic Cummings was to blame.
Mr Case’s posts also reveal a bitter row earlier this autumn between Mr Johnson and the then chancellor Rishi Sunak over whether new measures should be taken to curb a second wave of Covid-19 cases, including a possible two-week ” chains.” switches” or various local restrictions through a multi-level system.
On 31 October 2020, the day Johnson announced a second lockdown, Case wrote in a message to Sir Chris: “Annct [announcement] postponed until today due to this leak.
“By the way, Team 10 is targeting Matt because of the leak. It was definitely one of very few people!”
Sir Chris detailed the preparations for the announcement, highlighting that Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance were due to accompany Johnson to the Downing Street press conference.
The rest of the conversation was not published by the Covid inquiry, so his response to Number 10, which accused Mr Hancock of being a “chatty rat”, is unknown.
The exchange also shows Mr Case’s frustration that Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak and the then health secretary were blaming each other for informing the media about the tiered system of government.
On October 10, 2020, Case told Sir Chris: “The briefing is crazy. The accusations between Prime Minister Matt and Rishi about who is responsible are truly noteworthy!”
Days earlier, amid government discussions about the possibility of introducing a “circuit breaker” or tiered system to curb rising case numbers, there were signs that Mr Sunak was opposed to any measures – apparently due to the impact on the economy.
Senior officials discussed how the then chancellor’s and Conservatives’ resistance to new restrictions would only lead to a complete lockdown later.
On October 7, Case sent a message to Sir Chris Wormold: “Tonight Rishi will take it all back. It takes patience. And take a deep breath.”
Sir Chris replied: “So no surprises. Their bench also faces a significant challenge in achieving this.
Mr Case then said: “In Rishi’s opinion they won’t achieve it,” to which Sir Chris replied: “In the short term he may well be right.” it is too late for our measures to become effective.
“In this case, a national lockdown will be the only option we can turn to.”
The Cabinet Secretary said it was “pretty much exactly what I just told the Prime Minister.” It’s a perfectly legal decision not to act now, but you have to accept the risk and accept that you’ll have to do a lot more later.”
On October 9, Mr Case apologized for not responding to Sir Chris’s earlier message, saying “the last 48 hours have been a terrible negotiation with everyone involved in the 10/11 episode”.
He continued: “I think the planes will arrive today. Rishi opens his checkbook.”
The tiered system was announced on October 14, with the government providing additional funding to local authorities as part of stricter tier three measures.
Jack Doyle, Mr Johnson’s former communications director, told the inquiry that the scale of media leaks during the pandemic had affected the government’s ability to plan public health messaging.
In his written statement following Lady Hallett’s inquiry, Mr Doyle said: “This communication challenge was compounded by the fact that we operated in a 24/7 global news media environment, where social media also played a very important role in facilitating misunderstandings and misinformation. .” . and conspiracy theories.
“Under these circumstances, although we have made some progress, it has been extremely difficult for the government to maintain public awareness and deliver a consistent message. This was partly aggravated by the consequences of leaks, which were so frequent and long-lasting that they made planning and preparing communications very difficult.”
Mr Case was due to give evidence to the Covid inquiry about his role in the Government’s response to the pandemic but took a leave of absence from his post for health reasons.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.