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Leaked posts by Matt Hancock reveal a "psychological view" of the former health secretary in opposition to how the government works during the pandemic, a minister has said. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has insisted that the treasure trove of more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages shared in the Telegraph's crash files is not a complete picture of what went on at the heart of the Kingdom's government. United in 2020 and 2021. He also downplayed the dark humor and crude confessions in the posts, suggesting that they show politicians "are human beings."
The latest stories in the Telegraph reports suggest that Mr Hancock wanted to "scare everyone" to inspire public compliance with the lockdown measures.
Heaton-Harris denied that this was the government's strategy.
"I think the government's strategy was to try to protect the British public as best they could... and to try to provide as much information as possible at the right time."
The former health secretary was also said to have become angry with NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens, now Lord Stevens, during the pandemic and even said his ouster would be a "massive improvement".
Previous revelations of the message backlog include Hancock and Rishi Sunak's shared belief that former special counsel Dominic Cummings' time in Downing Street was a "nightmare".
When asked about the development of the story depicted in the messages, Heaton-Harris told the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: "It's really a partial account of what was going on and almost a glimpse into Matt Hancock's psyche. instead of reality." Decision making."
Asked if he was comfortable with the tone of conversation revealed in the posts, Heaton-Harris said: "I think viewers would expect politicians to be human beings, humans to put things in a human way, and I don't think find a politician". that I was not afraid at the beginning of the lockdown: first lockdown, when we had no idea what the pandemic was going to be like.
“Today's revelations took place in the days when there were no vaccines, there was limited testing. I think you have to put it in the context of time and everything that remains, that's why it's important to wait for the investigation.
The messages were shared with the Telegraph by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who co-wrote Hancock's memoir, The Pandemic Diaries, which covered his time as health secretary.
Hancock suggested that Ms Oakeshott may have broken a confidentiality agreement and may be taking legal action.
She has defended the disclosure in recent days, insisting that sharing the posts is in the public interest.
Hancock said that all the documents used to write his book were made available to the official investigation of Covid-19.
PA files
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