to remind ourselves that this was an age of extraordinary anxiety, we hadn t got vaccines etc, and the government was starting to look to the teaching profession to welcome those young people back into school. there was a huge debate going on, very snarky debate, about whether face coverings should or shouldn t be worn. and essentially the very people who then brought those young people back into school are being described in those snide times by that former education secretary. our chief political correspondent nick eardley told me how the former health secretary has reacted to the latest revelations. matt hancock isn t happy, he has called this a massive betrayal of trust. he said he is hugely disappointed and he has apologised to the people whose messages have been leaked. his argument is that there is no public interest in this because he handed over these messages to the public inquiry which is looking into the uk s covid response. they were handed to the inquiry
in a statement. he is denying he said anything menacing. on those dis-harain said anything menacing. on those disparaging comments said anything menacing. on those disparaging comments about - said anything menacing. on those - disparaging comments about teachers and unions, that presents a very different private face to the public face, to what the two ministers, then ministers, were saying in public. what problems do you foresee this causing, well they need to be an apology? an apology? possibly. it is a bit embarrassing an apology? possibly. it is a bit embarrassing for an apology? possibly. it is a bit embarrassing for gavin - an apology? possibly. it is a bit. embarrassing for gavin williamson and matt hancock. i don t think they made any bones about criticism of some of the unions in private, but it was pretty clear some of the language being used was not the sort of language ministers would want to get out in the public domain, clearly slightly at odds with the praise of
this is bbc news with the latest headlines. police in sussex are continuing to question constance marten and mark gordon. the remains of a baby have been found in the search for a missing child. both are being held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary matt hancock tried to bypass the education secretary to have schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic. 1,000 charities have written to the chancellor for funding from the upcoming budget to tackle redistributing surplus food from farms. protesters clashed with police in athens last night in a demonstration against the operator of the passenger train involved in a fatal collision on tuesday.
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 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 will remember the start of 2021 being a bit of a shambles,
have been treated. it s also where some family members have been coming to give their dna in the hope that maybe any sort of samples that are recovered from the scene today will be matched to their loved ones who are still missing. we know already that many young people died on this train service. they had been away for a greek holiday, seeing their loved ones, they were returning to their studies, but tragically, they did not make it back. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former uk health secretary matt hancock tried to bypass the then education secretary to have schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic. messages published in the daily telegraph show mr hancock describing sir gavin williamson as battling tooth and nail to keep schools in england open in december 2020 a move he disagreed with. other messages show disparaging remarks about teachers unions. our political correspondent david wallace lockhart reports.