Westminster has delivered a collective groan after Jeremy Hunt’s department “leaked” messages about his budget in an apparent joke aimed at Matt Hancock.
As the chancellor was delivering his financial update, clearly relieved that the UK appears to be narrowly avoiding a “technical” recession, his Treasury team sent out a tweet mocking Matt Hancock’s leaked WhatsApp messages.
The department posted on Twitter: “Breaking News: Spring Budget WhatsApp Files leaked. Share the scoop with your family and friends on WhatsApp.”
The linked video includes a mocked-up version of a group chat between government departments, in which they share ideas for the chancellor’s much-vaunted update.
The chat includes various departments, such as the Department for Education, the Department for Transport and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, presenting major funding announcements as a series of messages.
It’s a clear reference to a leaked trove of 100,000 WhatsApp messages linked to Hancock’s time as health secretary during the Covid-19 pandemic, which were kicked around publicly after journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who collaborated on Hancock’s memoirs, decided to hand the cache to the Daily Telegraph.
The Treasury’s attempt at humour did not go down well.