06 march 2023 - Former UK Health Minister Whatsapp messages leaked
Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages: what are the latest disclosures?
Aamna Mohdin (The Guardian, 05/03/2023)
The government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been thrust into the spotlight after the leak to the Daily Telegraph of more than 100,000 private WhatsApp messages involving Matt Hancock.
The cache of messages, which reveal private conversations between several senior politicians and officials, provide a unique insight into the way the UK government operated at the height of the pandemic.
Matt Hancock: Leaked messages suggest plan to frighten public
Helen Catt (BBC News, 05/03/2023)
Matt Hancock suggested to an aide that they "frighten the pants off everyone" about Covid, messages published by the Sunday Telegraph show.
It appears the former health secretary discussed when to reveal the existence of the Kent variant of Covid to ensure people complied with lockdown rules.
Oakeshott and Hancock: betraying a confidential source damages journalism and is a threat to public health
Steven Barnett (The Conversation, 03/03/2023)
It is an iron rule of journalism – probably the first lesson that a rookie reporter learns on joining a professional newsroom: never betray a confidential source. A core principle of the National Union of Journalists code of conduct states that a journalist “protects the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work”.
Off message: Hancock saga reveals central role of WhatsApp in UK politics
Chris Cook (The Financial Times, 03/03/2023)
On Thursday, Matt Hancock apologised. The former UK health secretary was sorry, he said, to “political colleagues, civil servants and friends”. Not for anything he did in office, but because a national newspaper had obtained around 100,000 of his WhatsApp messages, covering his time in office at the peak of the pandemic.