Matt Hancock wanted to 'get heavy with police' in Covid rule-breaker crackdown

03 March 2023 , 05:21

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Matt Hancock was keen for police to crackdown on Covid rule breakers (Image: Getty Images)

Matt Hancock wanted the Government to “get heavy with the police” in a bid to crack down on Covid rule breakers during his time as Health Secretary.

During the pandemic, Mr Hancock was eager for officers to get tough on those breaking lockdown rules in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19.

In one message, he described giving officers “their marching orders” to enforce restrictions – just days before staff held a party at 10 Downing Street.

Leaked texts in the Daily Telegraph also show that senior officers were told they should be stricter with the public by ministers.

That stance is in contrast to government claims at the time that police were operationally independent.

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Police patrol the promenade and seafront in Bournemouth during a Covid lockdown (Getty Images)

The Daily Mail reports that on August 28, 2020, Simon Case, the then permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, asked Mr Hancock: “Who is actually delivering enforcement?”

Mr Hancock replied: “I think we are going to have to get heavy with the police.”

A week after a third national lockdown was enforced across England in January 2021, Mr Hancock sent a text saying that “the plod got their marching orders” following a meeting attended by Mr Case, Boris Johnson and then Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Just days later an event was held at 10 Downing Street which the Met later said breached rules in place at the time.

Mr Hancock described giving officers 'their marching orders' to enforce restrictions (Getty Images)

Prime Minister at the time Mr Johnson was worried that he may have “blinked too soon” when he called a second lockdown, according to other leaked messages.

His fears were revealed in private messages after modelling that predicted death numbers was shown to be “very wrong”.

The lockdown in November 2020 went ahead anyway and lasted for a month.

Mr Johnson said in a group chat on November 1 that Dr Carl Heneghan had told him there was a problem with the modelling that showed 4,000 people could die daily without action and that a newer Cambridge study had shown that the number was likely closer to 1,000.

David Clark