Leaked Hancock messages show clash over schools opening during Covid

West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock was involved in a behind-the-scenes clash with then-education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson over moves to keep schools open during the Covid pandemic, according to the latest leaked messages published by a national newspaper.

The paper highlighted an exchange between Mr Hancock, the then health secretary, and one of his aides from December 2020 after Sir Gavin persuaded Boris Johnson that schools in England should reopen as planned at the start of the January term.

He said they needed to fight a "rear-guard action" to prevent a "policy car crash" when children returned to the classrooms and started spreading the disease.

The tranche of more than 100,000 WhatsAapp messages was passed to the paper by the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who was given the material by Mr Hancock when they were working together on a book about his time in government during the pandemic.

Earlier, Ms Oakeshott confirmed that she had broken an non-disclosure agreement with Mr Hancock - although she argued that her action was overwhelmingly in the "public interest".

"Freaking out"

The latest messages feature an exchange between Mr Hancock and Emma Dean, a special adviser, during a Zoom meeting in which Sir Gavin convinced the prime minister the January reopening should go ahead despite concerns about the second Covid wave then gripping the country.

Ms Dean said the education secretary was "freaking out", adding: "You can tell he isn't being wholly rationale. Just by his body language."

Mr Hancock replied: "I'm having to turn the volume down."

At the end of the meeting, Mr Hancock said: "I want to find a way, Gavin having won the day, of actually preventing a policy car crash when the kids spread the disease in January. And for that we must now fight a rear-guard action."

The newspaper said the messages show he then contacted Dan Rosenfield, Mr Johnson's chief of staff, to begin his attempt to have schools closed before children returned, providing him with his private email address.

In the event, on January 4, after many younger children had returned to classes for a single day, Mr Johnson announced schools would close and exams would be cancelled amid a national lockdown. They did not reopen until March 8.

In an article for The Telegraph, Sir Gavin said that he had considered quitting over the decision as he was so unhappy.

"Looking back now, I wonder whether I should have resigned at that point. I certainly thought long and deeply over whether I should have gone then. I just felt so personally upset about it," he wrote.

Frustration with teaching unions

The messages also how Mr Hancock and Sir Gavin had earlier expressed their exasperation with the teaching unions.

Mr Hancock messaged Sir Gavin to congratulate him on a decision to delay A-level exams for a few weeks.

"Cracking announcement today. What a bunch of absolute arses the teaching unions are," he wrote.

Sir Gavin responded: "I know they really really do just hate work."

Following their publication, the former education secretary tweeted that his comments had been "about some unions and not teachers".

He added: "I have the utmost respect for teachers who work tirelessly to support students."

Matt Hancock's response

Matt Hancock has said he is victim of a "massive betrayal and breach of trust" after the disclosure of WhatsApp messages revealing the inside working of government during the coronavirus crisis.

The former health secretary also apologised for the impact the release of the messages had on those he had worked with during the pandemic.

Mr Hancock gave the messages to journalist Isabel Oakeshott as they collaborated on his memoirs, but she subsequently handed them to the Daily Telegraph.

Ms Oakeshott said she was threatened by Mr Hancock in a late-night message after the newspaper began publishing its stories.

He has refuted the claim.

Mr Hancock said: "I am hugely disappointed and sad at the massive betrayal and breach of trust by Isabel Oakeshott.

"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."

He said there was "absolutely no public interest case for this huge breach" because all the material used for his Pandemic Diaries book was given to the Covid-19 public inquiry.

Explaining the message he sent to the journalist, he said: "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."

A spokesman for Mr Hancock previously said: "These revelations are... partial accounts, obviously spun with an agenda.

"They show Matt was focused throughout on saving lives. The right place for a full assessment is the (official Covid) inquiry."

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