A minister has denied the UK government tried to scare the public into following COVID-19 lockdown rules after leaked messages suggest former Health Secretary Matt Hancock wanted to “frighten the pants off everyone” in order to ensure compliance.
The latest set of WhatsApp exchanges, published in The Sunday Telegraph, shows how Hancock and other officials discussed using an announcement about the Kent variant of the virus to scare the public into changing their behaviour.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock in Downing Street, in London, on Dec. 10, 2020. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
The messages, among more than 100,000 passed to the Telegraph by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, also show that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case suggested in January 2021 that the “fear” factor would be “vital” in persuading people to follow lockdown rules….