Information Commissioner yet to establish if Hancock affair leak was in the public interest
Raids and investigation into the CCTV breach are defended despite the Prime Minister insisting it was the work of a legitimate free press
22 July 2021 • 9:29pm
Matt Hancock and Gina Coladangelo outside the BBC in central London after the former Health Secretary appeared on The Andrew Marr Show
Credit: Tolga Akmen/AFP
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is yet to establish if the leak of CCTV footage that exposed Matt Hancock’s affair was in the public interest, despite the Prime Minister declaring it was.
Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner, said she recognised the importance of a free press and of the rights of whistleblowers, but insisted ICO had a “statutory responsibility” to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged data breach.