WhatsApp messages leaked to a national newspaper show that the then health secretary and colleagues gave officers 'marching orders' to enforce measures
WhatsApp messages leaked to a national newspaper show that the then health secretary and colleagues gave officers"marching orders" to enforce measuresMinisters and the country's top civil servant talked about the need to"get heavy with the police" to make sure the public obeyed lockdown rules during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The claim is the latest to be revealed from the thousands of WhatsApp messages sent to or from then health secretary Matt Hancock and leaked to The Daily Telegraph. The first conversation took place in late August 2020 between Simon Case, then a permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, and Mr Hancock.Mr Hancock replied"I think we are going to have to get heavy with the police", prompting Mr Case to point out that they were due to have a roundtable meeting with ministers and the"cops".
After another meeting in January 2021, which included Boris Johnson, Mr Hancock messaged Mr Case to say the"PM was in vg shape" and"the plod got their marching orders". The exchanges were among more than 100,000 messages leaked by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who had been given them by Mr Hancock while they were collaborating on his memoir.
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