in the autumn, i understand. the crux of his argument is it would have come out anyway in the right place for it to be properly analysed, the public inquiry, he argues. isabel oakeshott argues, actually, the public inquiry would take far too long and this stuff might never see the light of day and, therefore, there was a public interest in getting it out. she also, in an interview she did last night with talk tv, accused mr hancock of sending her menacing messages. interesting that mr hancock is completely denying that, says it is not true. in a statement he put out this morning, he says he simply asked her. he called her on tuesday night when he heard something was coming saying he was asking her if there were any clues of what it was and when he saw it, he said to her that it was a big mistake, the quote he has
they lay on the line the sort of discussions going on in government and when it comes to the closure of schools in england, we always knew there had been a disagreement in government about whether schools should be closed for a second time at the start of 2021, but the extent to which matt hancock was trying to fight against gavin williamson s position, the extent to which matt hancock s aides were questioning mr williamson s decision, saying he was freaking out, not being rational, the extent to which the divisions were leading to some big rows between the ministers is really fascinating. and the fact mr hancock made it clear to his team that once the decision had been made by government to keep schools open that he wanted to fight a rearguard action against it is a fascinating insight to what was going on. it matters because a lot of parents and perhaps some pupils as well
this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. protesters have clashed with police in athens last night in a demonstration against the operator of the passenger train involved in a fatal collision on tuesday. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary matt hancock tried to bypass another minister to get schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic. this is about the millions of people, everyone of us in this country, that were adversely affected by the catastrophic decisions to lock down this country repeatedly, often on the flimsiest of evidence. police in sussex are continuing to question constance marten and mark gordon after the remains
so they did pay you for them? i m a working journalist. they did not pay me for the messages. i ve been helping the daily telegraph with investigation. you ll see that i ve been writing stories for the daily telegraph. just for clarity, because it is important. in other words, they didn t pay you a sum to receive them. i m not going to get into any arrangement i have as a journalist. well, money is partially, arguably, a motive. seriously, anyone who thinks i did this for money must be utterly insane. this is about the millions of people, every one of us in this country, that were adversely affected by the catastrophic decisions to lockdown this country repeatedly, often on the flimsiest of evidence, for political reasons. and yet, you helped matt hancock write a bookjustifying all those decisions. because i wanted to get to the truth of it. isabel oakeshott. geoff barton from the association of school and college leaders says the exchanges between the health and education secretary sh
assessment is the inquiry. that public inquiry will take some time. more of matt hancock s messages may appear soon. david wallace lockhart, bbc news, westminster. the journalist who leaked the messages, isabel oakeshott, has defended her decision to do so. a vocal critic of lockdowns, she told the bbc s today programme she believes the messages are in the public interest. i fully discharged my responsibilities to matt hancock. together, we produced a book that made a fantastic impact. it was the book that he wanted. i didn t leave anything out. actually broke a written legal agreement, a non disclosure agreement, not to reveal the contents. my responsibilities, having finished that book with him, are now to the public interest. the public interest. did you break an nda? i mean, that s a matter of public record. and did the telegraph pay you.? the public interest is far more important. did the telegraph pay.? i m a working journalist.