The chatty rat? My money is firmly on Dom

MATT Hancock was ‘furious’ at accusations of being the infamous ‘chatty rat’ and instead pointed the finger at Dominic Cummings, his diaries reveal.

Plans for a full lockdown in November 2020 were leaked to newspapers within hours of a meeting of the Covid strategy group led by Boris Johnson.

The revelations sparked a major inquiry at No 10 in an unsuccessful attempt to identify the ‘chatty rat’.

Now the former health secretary, in the third exclusive extract from his pandemic diaries featuring in the Daily Mail, claims Mr Cummings briefed the Press to ‘bounce the PM into announcing the lockdown sooner than later and stop him U-turning’.

He says the No 10 adviser attempted to smear Mr Hancock while ‘dripping poison’ into Mr Johnson’s ear.

Despite the perilous situation facing the country Mr Cummings ignored Mr Hancock’s calls, which the former minister said was ‘pathetic, petty and downright irresponsible’.

When false allegations emerged about him, he pointed the finger at Mr Cummings. ‘I think someone’s trying to smear me… I think I can take an educated guess,’ Mr Hancock wrote.

The bombshell claim reveals the open warfare between the two men as the UK headed into the November national lockdown in 2020.

When Mr Cummings was finally sacked that month, Mr Hancock admitted he was ‘elated’, labelling the adviser ‘a frightening, damaging, negative force for so long’.

As cases rose in the autumn of 2020, regional ‘tiers’ were introduced keeping much of the North under tight controls. By October health chiefs were calling for a ‘circuit breaker’ national lockdown. On Thursday, October 30, Mr Johnson ‘grudgingly’ agreed to a four-week lockdown at the Covid meeting, Mr Hancock said.

Within hours the former health secretary received a message from ITV’s Robert Peston that read: ‘I understand that this pm [afternoon] you, PM, Chancellor and [Michael Gove] met. Am told 99 per cent likely there will be a full national lockdown from next Wed or Thurs.’ Mr Hancock was enjoying dinner out at an Indian restaurant with his family in Newmarket, Suffolk, at the time.

He wrote in his diaries: ‘I almost choked on my chapati. So the cat is out of the bag – already! Furious, I forwarded the message to my spads [special advisers] and No10 comms. How the f*** had it leaked already? Only a handful of people knew!

‘By the time I got home, I had an enraged Boris on the phone saying his media people had told him hacks were pointing the finger at me. “Whoever is telling you that is lying to you,” I replied furiously.’

His diaries show how he immediately turned on the adviser. ‘How had this happened? My money is firmly on Dominic Cummings via his acolytes,’ he wrote. ‘The agenda? To bounce the PM into announcing the lockdown sooner than later and stop him Uturning. If they got me sacked into the bargain, that would be a bonus.’

The unsuccessful leak inquiry was never officially closed. Mr Cummings claimed it was likely to be Henry Newman, who advised Michael Gove before he went into No10 and was an ally of Carrie Johnson. Mr Cummings was forced to leave Downing Street in November 2020 following a bust-up over staffing and accusations he had briefed against the prime minister.

‘I almost choked on my chapati’