Leaked messages from former UK health minister raise questions about tackling coronavirus pandemic. A British newspaper has leaked messages between former Health minister Matt Hancock and other officials. The more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages raise questions about the approach to the corona pandemic. For example, Hancock has repeatedly ignored scientific advice so as not to harm his image. The revelations lead to a lot of uproar in the UK.
The Telegraph, a British newspaper, has revealed reports from former Public Health minister Matt Hancock. Hancock, a member of the Conservative party, was minister of health in the United Kingdom between 2018 and 2021. In that position, he guided the UK through the corona crisis.
In recent days, messages have been leaked drop by drop showing that, among other things, he wanted to “scare the population” to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 rules. VRT NWS has not been able to see the messages themselves and therefore relies on what The Telegraph has published.
Journalist Isabel Oakshott has given the messages to The Telegraph out of “national interest”. She helped Hancock write his book “Pandemic diaries”, about his position as Minister of health during the pandemic. The book came out late last year. Oakshott is not unprecedented in the UK. She is the journalist who revealed that ex-prime minister David Cameron attended a lurid inauguration ceremony at University with a dead pig’s head.
Creating a culture of fear
The WhatsApp messages reveal conversations between Hancock and other officials about when to “deploy” details about a new variant to scare the public. In this way, they wanted to instill fear in the British so that they would change their behavior. The fear factor would be “essential” to stop the spread of the virus, according to Hancock’s conversation with Simon case, a top official. Five days after the SMS traffic, the British government announced that an increased security risk would apply in the capital London and in the south of the UK.
During that same period, psychologists warned about the dangers of alleged fear tactics in British health campaigns. They concluded that the tactics are “unethical” and contribute to an increase in non-covid deaths and anxiety disorders.
When the news of a lockdown had to be communicated to the British population, Hancock and top official Case bickered over who had to make the announcement. Case then wrote that the news should be delivered by”trusted local figures and not nationally distrusted figures like Boris Johnson”.
The reports also show that Hancock called for the dismissal of a member of the government’s scientific advisory body. Jeremy Farrar, who is now a chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), publicly questioned the closure of the Ministry of Health. The UK Government announced in 2020 that it would close the ministry and replace it with two new bodies. The criticism shot down the wrong throat hole at the former health minister, who Farrar described as someone who has” no added value”.
Corona policy subordinated to image
Several reports also show that the corona policy was subordinate to Hancock’s image, according to the Telegraph. His media advisers told him that the press and the population would forgive him for the lockdowns if he kept repeating that the success of the large-scale vaccination campaign was his merit. “He wanted to profile himself as Mr. Vaccine,” writes The British newspaper.
The corona measures were also used in other cases to tinker with Hancock’s image. “I would not introduce any small measures” Hancock sent to top official Case in early 2021. “Agree, small measures look ridiculous. We need to stir up fear,” Case replied.
In addition, the former minister of health rejected the advice of the British head of the medical service to replace the fourteen-day quarantine with a testing policy. In addition, an infected person, after a positive test, had to test for the virus every day for 5 days. If those tests were negative, the person in question was allowed out of quarantine. The reason? Because this would” imply we’re wrong, ” Hancock texted.
