UK coronavirus shutdown: Matt Hancock and Michael Gove investigated by leak

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was at the center of an extraordinary government leak investigation last night after the prime minister was forced to announce the second national shutdown two days ahead of schedule.

Downing Street officials were enraged Friday night as they read details of the closure in early editions of Saturday’s newspapers, just hours after the ‘quartet’ of Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Michael Gove and Hancock took over. decision.

He forced Johnson to advance the announcement of the measure from Monday to yesterday, although many details are still being finalized.

The leak meant the shutdown appeared on the front pages before the rest of the cabinet knew of the decision.

Yesterday, Downing Street announced a formal investigation.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is at the center of a government leak investigation after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to announce the shutdown two days earlier. [File photo]

A senior government source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There were four people at that meeting, plus trusted officials who never, ever betray the confidences. You have to ask who would benefit from getting it all out before the boss has a chance to return.

Hancock is a leading lockdown “pigeon,” and has consistently advocated prioritizing the protection of the NHS over the economy.

However, other sources pointed the finger at Mr. Gove, the other ‘dove’ in the yard, and suggested that Mr. Hancock was being designated as the ‘scapegoat’ for the leak.

That claim was flatly denied by Gove’s spokesman. A source said: ‘Our rat, whoever he is, seems to be very talkative at the moment.’

It is not the first time that Hancock has been accused by his political enemies of leaking to reinforce his position.

Earlier this month, the decision to apply Level 3 restrictions in Northern areas appeared in the media before it was approved by the Prime Minister, leading government figures to openly speculate that Hancock had been involved. .

In August, Department of Education officials blamed Hancock when critical guidelines for school closings were issued, which said high school students could stay home in shifts every two weeks, just before midnight on a Friday night. the night.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a second lockdown for England on Saturday. The measure will take effect on Thursday and is expected to last until December 2.

The strange moment made it less likely that he would be examined. And in May, during the height of the first wave of the pandemic, government sources said Hancock was ‘living on borrowed time’ in cabinet after Johnson had raised questions about his department’s control over the crisis, just to that the minister begged, “That’s not fair, give me a break.”

The Mail on Sunday revealed three weeks ago that a Conservative MP claimed to have seen Mr. Hancock in the Commons Smoking Room bar past his own curfew at 10 p.m. after making a callous joke about the failures of the test system. and government tracking.

Hancock refused 30 times to answer this newspaper’s question about whether he returned to the bar after the 9.40 p.m. vote on October 5.

The health secretary has stuck to a carefully worded statement that said ‘no rules have been broken’, adding that although he was at the bar that night, he had ‘left parliamentary property to go home’ after the vote.

A Hancock ally said: ‘These leak claims are categorically false and this will be proven by the investigation. The Secretary of Health spends his time dealing with the global pandemic and protecting lives, not informing journalists ”.