Matt Hancock's leaked trove of WhatsApp messages - some of the key exchanges

Matt Hancock's handling of the COVID pandemic has come under fresh scrutiny following a leaked trove of more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages.

An investigation by The Daily Telegraph alleges the former health secretary rejected testing advice on care homes and expressed concern this could get in the way of meeting his targets.

The MP strongly denied the "distorted account" with a spokesman alleging the conversations, leaked by journalist Isabel Oakeshott after she worked on his Pandemic Diaries memoir, have been "spun to fit an anti-lockdown agenda".

Former chancellor George Osborne and Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg are also the subject of some of the messages.

Here, Sky News looks at the key exchanges that reportedly took place:

Hancock says care home testing 'muddies' waters

The Telegraph's investigation claims chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty told the then health secretary in April 2020 there should be testing for "all going into care homes".

Mr Hancock described it as "obviously a good positive step".

But the messages suggest he ultimately rejected the guidance, telling an aide the move just "muddies the waters".

According to the investigation, he said: "Tell me if I'm wrong but I would rather leave it out and just commit to test and isolate ALL going into care from hospital.

"I do not think the community commitment adds anything and it muddies the waters."

However, a source close to Mr Hancock said The Telegraph "intentionally excluded reference to a meeting with the testing team from the WhatsApp".

"This is critical," the source added, "because Matt was supportive of Chris Whitty's advice, held a meeting on its deliverability, told it wasn't deliverable, and insisted on testing all those who came from hospitals.

"The Telegraph have been informed that their headline is wrong, and Matt is considering all options available to him."

'I broke NDA, but it wasn't personal'

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Mr Hancock said: "It is outrageous that this distorted account of the pandemic is being pushed with partial leaks, spun to fit an anti-lockdown agenda, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of lives if followed. What the messages do show is a lot of people working hard to save lives."

Care home testing could 'get in way' of the 100,000 daily test target

Mr Hancock also expressed concerns that expanding care home testing could "get in the way" of the 100,000 daily test target he wanted to hit, the investigation said.

On 2 April, the then cabinet minister put his reputation on the line with a pledge to significantly increase testing by the end of the month as the UK lagged behind Europe in capacity.

Those eligible for the tests initially included the general public and NHS staff, and when advised to widen access to include people in COVID-hit care homes later that month, Mr Hancock said this would be "OK" so long as it did not "get in the way of actually fulfilling the capacity in testing".

He did not say why this would get in the way of his target but at the time, the government had acknowledged the challenges of getting tests to care homes.

Mr Hancock later approved the extra testing in care homes which was announced on 28 April.

Hancock texts George Osborne for help

As he struggled to meet his target, leaked messages show Mr Hancock texted former Tory chancellor George Osborne to ask for help.

He said the thousands of spare testing slots were "obvs good news about spread of virus" but "hard for my target".

How were the WhatsApps leaked?

Mr Osborne, editor of the Evening Standard until July 2020, had reportedly responded: "Yes - of course - all you need to do tomorrow is give some exclusive words to the Standard and I'll tell the team to splash it."

Mr Hancock had later added: "I WANT TO HIT MY TARGET!"

Hancock told ministers to 'get heavy with police' to enforce lockdown

The then-health secretary is also reported to have said - in late August 2020 - that "we are going to have to get heavy with police" when asked who is enforcing lockdown restrictions.

The latest claim looks at an alleged conversation which reportedly first took place in late August 2020 between Simon Case, then a permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, and Mr Hancock.

Mr Case had asked: "Who actually is delivering enforcement?"

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".

Unions accused of being 'arses' and teachers 'workshy'

In May 2020, as teachers prepared for classrooms to reopen, the then education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson had messaged Mr Hancock asking for help in securing personal protective equipment (PPE) for schools.

He said this was so staff could not use a lack of it as "a reason not to open", according to The Telegraph.

He added: "All of them will but some will just want to say they can't so they have an excuse to avoid having to teach, what joys!!!"

It was a rather different view to the one he expressed in public that same month, praising teachers for "going above and beyond the call of duty", adding: "You have simply been outstanding and we are so grateful for what you've done".

Five months later, Mr Hancock messaged Sir Gavin to congratulate him on his decision to delay A-level exams for a few weeks, due to the virus.

Mr Hancock wrote: "Cracking announcement today.

"What a bunch of absolute arses the teaching unions are."

Sir Gavin responded: "I know they really really do just hate work."

Mr Hancock's reply was two laughing face emojis and a bullseye.

On Wednesday night Mr Williamson tweeted what he claimed were clarifications about his messages, saying it was certain unions, not teachers themselves that he was criticising.

Boris Johnson 'going crackers' over testing

Building a centralised test and trace system was one of the biggest challenges for the government during the pandemic.

The £37bn service is widely seen as having failed in its main objective to reduce the spread of the virus and prevent further lockdowns after its launch on 28 May 2020.

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The "lockdown files" suggest then prime minister Boris Johnson was frustrated over its capacity after it got up and running.

On 4 June he appeared to message Mr Hancock saying: "It's all about testing. That's our Achilles' heel. We can't deliver a sensible border policy or adequate track and trace because we can't test enough. Did we go to the Germans for those kits that Angela Merkel was offering? What is wrong with us as a country that we can't fix this?"

In another message, Mr Johnson adds: "We have had months and months.

"I am going quietly crackers about this."

Mr Hancock replied: "Don't go crackers. We have test capacity enough to do this. We now have the biggest testing capacity in Europe. The problem is the false negatives - so the medics are against releasing from self-isolation (whether for quarantine or T&T) with a negative test."

Boris Johnson and senior advisers raised concerns about shielding

The files also appear to suggest Boris Johnson and the government's most senior advisers raised concerns about shielding - but the guidance was kept in place despite the reservations.

According to The Telegraph, Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser, said in a WhatsApp in Aug 2020 that shielding had not been "easy or very effective".

Meanwhile Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser, said he would "think twice" about following the advice himself unless it was to protect the NHS - which was not the policy's aim.

Shielding was an intervention to protect extremely vulnerable people from coming into contact with coronavirus and required them to isolate for months on end.

In the WhatsApp group with key officials, Mr Johnson proposed giving over-65s "a choice" between shielding or an "ever-diminishing risk" of living a more normal life. He compared the risk of people in this age group dying from COVID to that of "falling down stairs", adding: "And we don't stop older people from using stairs."

Despite the concerns, the government reintroduced shielding throughout each of the national lockdowns and only officially ended the policy in September 2021.

Analysis: How messages lay bare political handling of pandemic

Test couriered to Jacob Rees-Mogg's child

The "lockdown files" investigation also claims that officials couriered Jacob Rees-Mogg a COVID test for one of his children while there was a shortage in September 2020.

The aide messaged Mr Hancock to say the lab had "lost" the original test for one of the then Commons leader's children, "so we've got a courier going to their family home tonight".

He added: "Jacob's spad [special adviser] is aware and has helped line it all up, but you might want to text Jacob."

It is not clear if Mr Hancock sent a text flagging up the intervention or if the test was delivered.

Commenting on the claim, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "This is yet more evidence that it's one rule for Conservative ministers and another for everyone else.

"The COVID inquiry must look into reports Conservative ministers were able to get priority access to tests at a time of national shortage."

Appearing on GB News on Wednesday evening, Mr Rees-Mogg confirmed his child's test had been lost, meaning he had to quarantine and was "unable to do my job as a government minister for several days, until it was admitted that this had been lost".

But he insisted he did not ask for another test, adding: "At that point it was raised with the Department of Health, and they decided to send a test to a member of my family so the test could be carried out.

"Not something I asked for, so if I received any special treatment, it wasn't because I had requested it, but actually it allowed a government minister to get back to work with a child that didn't have COVID in the first place, who wouldn't have needed a special test had the system actually been working, but I accept it wasn't working for other people too."

Hancock warned restrictions on care home visits 'inhumane'

The Telegraph's investigation also claims social care minister Helen Whately advised the health secretary not to stop "husbands seeing wives" in October 2020.

This was in relation to care home visits, which were to be restricted as the UK went into a tiered lockdown system, with tighter rules in areas with higher COVID rates.

Ms Whately said: "I'm hearing there's pressure to ban care home visiting in tier 2 as well as tier 3. Can you help? I really oppose that. Where care homes have COVID-secure visiting we should be allowing it. To prevent husbands seeing wives because they happen to live in care homes for months and months is inhumane."

Mr Hancock replied: "Hearing from whom? Tier 2 was agreed yesterday as far as I'm concerned."

The rules that came into place that month allowed some visits for those in tier one, but banned them unless under "exceptional circumstances" in other tiers.

In January 2021, when some restrictions still remained on care home visits despite the vaccine rollout, Ms Whately also reportedly said: "I am getting v positive updates from David P on care home vaccinations, with just a handful left to do. As I think I've flagged, we do need to be ready with policy on visiting, given risks of lives lost through old people just giving up as well as COVID... and expectation that vaccine = safe to visit."

Hancock replied: "Yes on visiting but only after a few weeks. Meanwhile we need to hit the end-of-month target!"

Sky News has contacted Ms Whately for comment.

Osborne: No one thinks testing is going well

Other revelations contained in the files appear to show a disagreement between Mr Hancock and Mr Osborne after the former chancellor gave a radio interview criticising testing.

Mr Hancock messaged his ex-colleague asking: "What was this for?"

Mr Osborne, who was still the editor of the London Evening Standard, replied: "Trying to spread the responsibility from you to Number 10 - I've said it before."

Mr Hancock retorted: "Ok but mass testing is going v well - I fear this looks like you asked for me to be overruled…"

Mr Osborne shot back: "No one thinks testing is going well. If I wanted a test today I can't get one, unless I fake symptoms - and XXXX [redacted] is still waiting test results from three weeks ago (XXXX went private in the end)."

Hancock staged 'rear-guard' action to close schools

The files obtained by The Telegraph also appear to show a behind the scenes clash between Mr Hancock and Sir Gavin in December 2020 over whether schools should reopen as the second wave of COVID took hold.

After the then education secretary persuaded Boris Johnson to keep classrooms open, Mr Hancock is said to have text one of his aides saying they needed to fight a "rear-guard action" to prevent a "policy car crash".

The exchange took place during a Zoom meeting about school closures, when Mr Hancock's special adviser Emma Dean said the education secretary was "freaking out", adding: "You can tell he isn't being wholly rational. Just by his body language."

Mr Hancock replied: "I'm having to turn the volume down."

At the end of the meeting, Mr Hancock said: "I want to find a way, Gavin having won the day, of actually preventing a policy car crash when the kids spread the disease in January. And for that we must now fight a rear-guard action."

In the event, on 4 January, after many younger children had returned to classes for a single day, Mr Johnson announced schools would close and exams would be cancelled amid a national lockdown. They did not reopen until 8 March 2021.

Johnson said it was 'superb' people were fined for breaking quarantine

On 2 March, The Telegraph published its latest findings from the "lockdown files".

It contained messages which appeared to show Boris Johnson saying it was "superb" that two people were fined £10,000 for failing to quarantine after returning from Dubai.

These messages were reportedly exchanged on 2 March 2021 in response to a Sky News story.

The report also claimed to show Cabinet Secretary Simon Case saying it was "hilarious" that 149 people were quarantined in hotels - after asking how many had been "locked up".

Mr Hancock supposedly said that "we are giving big families all the suites and putting pop stars in the box rooms".

Hancock called a minister a 'w*****'

On 3 March, The Telegraph published stories relating to Mr Hancock's relationship with Rishi Sunak.

This included the then health secretary calling Steve Barclay a "w*****".

Mr Barclay was, at the time, a Treasury minister under Mr Sunak - now he has Mr Hancock's old job of health secretary.

Mr Hancock also mocked Mr Sunak's Eat Out to Help Out scheme as "eat out to help the virus get about".

Reaction to affair

The Telegraph has also published the reaction of Mr Hancock to his affair with Gina Coladangelo being published on the front page of The Sun.

Mr Hancock spent a couple of days battling for his political career, but ultimately stood down.

The messages show how at one point he told Ms Coladangelo not to step down from her position as a non-executive director with his department as it would add to calls for Mr Hancock to step aside.

Taking mistress to G7 dinners

Messages showed Mr Hancock got Ms Coladangelo invited to two dinners with the US health secretary during a G7 health ministers' summit about a month after their relationship started.

WhatsApps between Mr Hancock and his former political adviser showed the pair agreeing wording on what she was doing there, in response to a parliamentary question from a Labour MP after their affair was exposed and the Tory stepped down as a minister.

The original draft answer said she attended at the request of Mr Hancock but that was eventually watered down so there was no mention of Mr Hancock or the Department of Health and Social Care.