The Court of Public Opinion Opens as Covid Texts are Revealed

As the world continues to grapple with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new battle has emerged in the court of public opinion.

The focus of this battle is former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s pandemic diaries, which were intended to detail his experiences running the UK’s Covid response during the height of the pandemic. However, Isabel Oakeshott, a political journalist and right-of-centre television commentator, has now exposed private texts between Hancock and other officials during the pandemic period, which she had access to as a result of assisting Hancock with his book.

The Telegraph published details of over 100,000 WhatsApp messages sent between Hancock and other ministers and officials at the height of the pandemic. The publication of these messages has caused a stir, with Hancock's team hitting back at Oakeshott and The Telegraph, saying the story is “wrong, based on partial, spun leaks,” and that they failed to approach Hancock before publication.

Isabel Oakeshott has defended her decision to expose the private messages, stating that they are “vital historical records” that are “overwhelmingly in the public interest and pertinent to the public inquiry”. She has called for “urgent answers” and argued that her decision to reveal the messages is an important public service.

The battle between those who believe the messages should be revealed now and those who believe they should remain private until the public inquiry has concluded continues to rage on. Those who support Oakeshott's decision argue that the public has a right to know what happened during the pandemic, while those who oppose it claim that revealing the messages breaches Hancock's trust and potentially violates a non-disclosure agreement.

The publication of these messages provides a fascinating insight into how people under the professional pressure of their lives dealt with the colossal issues confronting them during the pandemic. The messages show, in a raw and unfiltered way, the nature and tone of their interactions and the rapidly changing evidence and arguments about what was deliverable.

The battle for public opinion over Covid was always going to be intense, angry and passionate, and the publication of these messages has only added fuel to the fire. The court of public opinion is now open and hearing evidence, and it will continue to do so in the coming days via revelations in The Daily Telegraph.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to reveal private messages during a pandemic will have significant implications for how we view the response to Covid-19. The battle between privacy and public interest is not a new one, but the stakes are higher than ever before in the midst of a global pandemic. It remains to be seen how this battle will play out and what impact it will have on the public's perception of the pandemic response.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a clash between public opinion and privacy over revealed texts. The battle for public opinion over Covid was always going to be intense, angry and passionate, and the publication of these messages has only added fuel to the fire. The decision of whether or not to reveal private messages during a pandemic will have significant implications for how we view the response to Covid-19.