Ministers considered releasing thousands of prisoners during Covid in a “bonkers plan”, according to Matt Hanock.
The claim is contained in a new book due to be released by the former Health Secretary, Pandemic Diaries, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail newspaper from Saturday.
According to the publication, Mr Hancock claims in the book that he came under pressure to accept the release of thousands of non-violent prisoners during Covid to ease pressure on the justice system.
He writes: “After about the third iteration, I called [Justice Secretary] Rob Buckland, who to my astonishment told me he’d been advised that I was the one who wanted to release them.
“Unfortunately, this still wasn’t the end of the matter. Clearly someone in Whitehall still thought it was a good idea and kept pushing it, to the point that the PM asked to talk to us both. I made my views crystal clear.
“We cannot lock up literally everyone in the country except prisoners, who we instead release, I spluttered.”
According to the paper, Mr Hancock’s book will also cover the Government’s early handling of the pandemic and power struggles within the heart of Downing Street as ministers argued how best to respond.
The former Health Secretary, who resigned after his affair with adviser Gina Coladangelo while social distancing guidance was still in effect, will also set out his frustrations with global actors such as Donald Trump and the EU over the virus.
He is also said to hit back at Dominic Cummings, the former No10 aide who savaged his response to Covid before a committee of MPs.
The 44-year-old has faced criticism for his recent appearance on I’m A Celebrity while still a serving MP. He finished in third place in the competition.
Ms Coladangelo said after Mr Hancock’s exit: “I think it’s fair to say that Matt underestimated the scale of the reaction to him coming into the jungle.”
