Matt Hancock mocked Rishi Sunak’s Covid “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme saying it would accelerate the spread of the virus

4th March 2023

MATT Hancock mocked Rishi Sunak’s Covid “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme saying it would accelerate the spread of the virus, it has emerged.

Leaked WhatsApp messages show the then Health Secretary ridiculed the policy — calling it “eat out to help the virus get about”.

Matt Hancock mocked Rishi Sunak’s Covid ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme saying it would accelerate the spread of the virus

The scheme was launched in the summer of 2020 when Mr Sunak was Chancellor, as Britain emerged from the first lockdown

Mr Hancock, 44, even boasted that he had “kept it out of the news” that the money-off food and drink move was driving up Covid cases.

The Eat Out scheme offered half price on food on drink at the beginning of the week up to £10 per person.

Overall, it cost taxpayers £849 million which was more than the estimated £500 million cost.

The messages were disclosed by journalist Isabel Oakeshott.

Hancock passed them to her when working on his pandemic memoir.