Matt Hancock breaks his silence on WhatsApp lockdown leaks

Former health secretary Matt Hancock claimed he was the victim of a “massive betrayal and breach of trust” after WhatsApp messages were leaked (Image: PA)

Matt Hancock has claimed he was the victim of a “massive betrayal and breach of trust” after WhatsApp messages were leaked which exposed the government’s internal workings during the coronavirus crisis.

The former health minister apologized for the impact of publishing the news on those he worked with during the pandemic.

Mr Hancock passed the messages to journalist Isabel Oakeshott when she was collaborating on his memoirs, but she subsequently passed them on to the Daily Telegraph, which has published a series of stories based on correspondence with ministerial colleagues and officials.

Ms Oakeshott said she was threatened by Mr Hancock on a nightly news report after the newspaper began publishing her stories.

Mr Hancock said: “I am deeply disappointed and saddened by Isabel Oakeshott's massive betrayal and breach of trust.”

“I also regret the impact on the very many people – political colleagues, officials and friends – who have worked hard with me to get through the pandemic and save lives.”

He said there was “absolutely no public interest case for this major breach” as all the material used for his book “Pandemic Diaries” had been made available to the Covid-19 public inquiry.

Explaining the message he sent to the journalist, he said: “Last night I was accused of sending threatening messages to Isabel. That is also wrong.

“After hearing confused rumors about a release late Tuesday night, I called and messaged Isabel to ask if she had 'any idea' about it, but got no response. Then when I saw what she had done, I wrote to her saying it was “a big mistake.” Nothing more.”

Ms Oakeshott said she would not engage in a “rant” with Mr Hancock “because that wouldn't be nice”.

“He can threaten me all he wants,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today.

“By the way, there are a lot of things I can say about his behavior that I won’t – at least not at this point – because this isn’t about Matt Hancock. It’s so much bigger.”

The story goes on

Pressing on her claim about the message he sent her, Ms Oakeshott said: “I say he sent me a message at 1.20am. It wasn’t good news.”

Explaining why she breached a confidentiality agreement by sharing the cache of WhatsApp messages with the Telegraph, she said it was not for financial reasons.

“Anyone who thinks I did this for money must be completely crazy,” she said.

“This is about the millions of people, every single one of us in this country, who have been negatively affected by the disastrous decisions to repeatedly lock down this country, often based on the flimsiest of evidence for political reasons.”