Matt Hancock has denounced what he stated was a “massive betrayal and breach of trust” following the leaking of lockdown WhatsApp messages.
The exchanges have been revealed in The Daily Telegraph after he shared them with journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who labored with the previous well being secretary on his Pandemic Diaries e-book.
In a prolonged assertion, Mr Hancock denied sending a “menacing message” to Ms Oakeshott after the publication of the primary tales on Wednesday – a declare she made final evening as she defended breaking a non-disclosure settlement (NDA) to leak the messages.
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The MP stated: “I’m vastly disenchanted and unhappy on the large betrayal and breach of belief by Isabel Oakeshott. I’m additionally sorry for the impression on the very many individuals – political colleagues, civil servants and pals – who labored arduous with me to get by the pandemic and save lives.
“There is absolutely no public interest case for this huge breach. All the materials for the book have already been made available to the inquiry, which is the right, and only, place for everything to be considered properly and the right lessons to be learned. As we have seen, releasing them in this way gives a partial, biased account to suit an anti-lockdown agenda.”
Last evening, Ms Oakeshott insisted she gave messages to The Telegraph due to the “overwhelming” public curiosity and it was not about attacking the previous well being secretary.
She additionally claimed she obtained a “menacing message” from Mr Hancock when he discovered about what she had achieved – however Mr Hancock stated “this is wrong”.
He stated: “Last night, I was accused of sending menacing messages to Isabel. This is also wrong. When I heard confused rumours 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.”
He stated he wouldn’t be commenting additional on any tales “or false allegations that Isabel will make”.
Read extra:
The key exchanges
‘I broke NDA, however it wasn’t private’
“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,” he stated.
The first story from the tranche of messages broke in The Telegraph, alleging the previous well being secretary had rejected testing recommendation on care houses and expressed concern it might get in the way in which of assembly his targets.
The MP strongly denied the “distorted account”, with a spokesman claiming the conversations had been “spun to fit an anti-lockdown agenda”.
Last evening, new messages have been revealed which seem to point out a conflict between Mr Hancock and former training secretary Sir Gavin Williamson over faculty closures, with the latter accused of saying lecturers have been in search of an “excuse” to not work in the course of the pandemic.
‘Ridiculous defence’
Reacting to the newest assertion from Mr Hancock, Ms Oakeshott informed TalkTV: “What a ridiculous defence. For someone who’s as intelligent as Matt Hancock to issue a statement saying there is no public interest in these revelations is patently absurd. And he knows that very well.”
She additionally stated anybody “who thinks I did this for money must be utterly insane”, telling the BBC: “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.”
Analysis: Explosive messages lay naked political dealing with of the pandemic
Ms Oakeshott, a recognized lockdown-sceptic, has insisted breaking her NDA to reveal the messages was “in the public interest” because it may very well be “a decade” earlier than the official inquiry into COVID studies again.
In her first interview after the messages have been revealed, she stated: “The public interest is overwhelming. Whenever you break a big story which is in the national interest… it can be a rocky road, it can be a bumpy ride.
“I do know I’m going to get just a few knocks over this [but] I’m ready to do that as a result of I feel the nationwide curiosity is so totally compelling.”
The journalist added: “This for me just isn’t a private factor about Matt Hancock.”
The chair of the COVID inquiry, Lady Hallett, insisted it would “not drag on for many years” and “there will likely be no whitewash”.
Source: information.sky.com”