EMBATTLED Matt Hancock dramatically broke his silence today over 100,000 leaked WhatsApp messages he sent to ministers and officials during the pandemic.
The ex-Health Secretary slammed the data dump as a “massive betrayal”.
Matt Hancock and Isabel Oakeshott pose together at his Pandemic Diaries book launch in December last year
And he hit back at accusations he sent “menacing messages” to Isabel Oakeshott, the journalist who broke a non-disclosure agreement to leak the texts to The Telegraph.
“I am hugely disappointed and sad at the massive betrayal and breach of trust by Isabel Oakeshott,” Mr Hancock fumed.
“Isabel repeatedly reiterated the importance of trust throughout, and then broke that trust.”
Ms Oakeshott co-authored Mr Hancock’s Covid memoir, The Pandemic Diaries.
The journalist was handed over hundreds of thousands of messages in confidence to help her write an accurate account.
She decided to give them to The Telegraph amid concerns the Pandemic Diaries didn’t paint a full picture of the chaos taking place in the heart of government at the time.
Mr Hancock said: ” 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.”
Last night Ms Oakeshott claimed the West Suffolk MP sent her “menacing messages” at 1.20am on Wednesday morning.
I’m not going to repeat what was in the message,” she told Piers Morgan on TalkTV.
“You can easily surmise if he is my friend at this point.”
Today Mr Hancock hit back: “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.”
The leaked texts yesterday revealed children in England were forced to wear face masks to appease Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
And Mr Hancock stands accused of ignoring scientific advice on testing the elderly and frail moving into care homes.
Downing Street is currently at panic stations amid fears PM Rishi Sunak might be dragged into the row over the messages.
This morning the reality TV contestant vowed: “I will not be commenting further on any other stories or false allegations that Isabel will make.”
He said he will respond to the “substance” of the messages at the £85 million independent Covid-19 public inquiry.
The probe is being chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett DBE, but could take years to analyse evidence and report back findings.
