Simon Case’s WhatsApps with Hancock unprofessional, say ex-civil servants

Whitehall chief called travellers being confined to Covid hotels ‘hilarious’, according to leak of chats with former health secretary

Former senior civil servants have expressed surprise and concern at the cabinet secretary, Simon Case’s “unprofessional” and jokey WhatsApp chats with Matt Hancock during the Covid crisis, saying they appeared to be a highly unusual departure from normal standards.

Case’s correspondence with Hancock is revealed in a leak to the Telegraph, known as the Lockdown Files, which shows the head of the civil service saying it was “hilarious” that some travellers were being “locked up” in hotels after entering the country.