The government must publish Matt Hancock’s real pandemic diary despite waging a two-year battle against openDemocracy to keep it under lock and key, the transparency watchdog has ruled.
It is a second blow to government secrecy in a week, after the official inquiry into the UK’s handling of Covid-19 demanded ministers’ WhatsApp messages be handed over.
openDemocracy has been trying to obtain the former health secretary’s official ministerial diary from the pandemic since March 2021, alongside those of his colleagues in the cabinet at the time. Covid killed at least 200,000 Brits, disproportionately affecting frontline workers and minority groups, and left many people battling viral fatigue or facing financial ruin.
