Day 5 of the Telegraph’s Lockdown Files and the most startling stories yet. Here’s what’s new:
- Matt Hancock asked when he could ‘deploy the variant’
When the more contagious Alpha (then ‘Kent’) variant started spreading in December 2020, many were scared. Good, thought Hancock. The former health secretary told his adviser that ‘we [can] frighten the pants of [sic] everyone with the new strain’ on 13 December, and wondered when ‘do we deploy the new variant’. Five days later, Boris Johnson cancelled Christmas.
2. Simon Case saw the benefit in fear-mongering
At least Sir Humphrey was subtle. The Cabinet Secretary told Hancock early in the third lockdown that ‘the fear/guilt factor’ was ‘crucial’ in keeping restrictions in place, if not going further. Case also told Hancock that the Nightingale hospitals would be full within days. Our data editor Michael Simmons points
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