Jeremy Hunt poked fun at former health secretary Matt Hancock as he set out the details of his spring budget on Wednesday (March 15).
Addressing MPs in the House of Commons, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced plans to abolish the lifetime allowance limit on pensions as part of a goal to get older people back into work. But he took the opportunity to make a dig at Mr Hancock, whose WhatsApp messages between MPs during the pandemic were leaked and then published by the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Hunt said: “Finally, I have listened to the concerns of many senior NHS clinicians who say unpredictable pension tax charges are making them leave the NHS just when they are needed most. The NHS is our biggest employer, and we will shortly publish the long-term workforce plan I promised in the Autumn Statement."
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He continued: "But ahead of that I do not want any doctor to retire early because of the way pension taxes work. It's an issue I discussed not just with the current health secretary, but with the former health secretary who kindly took a break from WhatsApping his colleagues to consider it".
Some of the WhatsApp messages, published earlier this month, showed Mr Hancock attempting to get the support of Cabinet Secretary Simon Case in challenging the stance of the then-Chancellor and others over certain pandemic-era rules, with the top civil servant – who is required to be politically neutral – complaining about “pure Conservative ideology” on the part of one senior minister.
In one message, Mr Hancock also accused Mr Sunak of trying to “show ankle” to the “hard right” over his Covid-19 stance. They also revealed Mr Hancock had serious concerns about the Treasury’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme designed to support restaurants, dubbing it the “eat out to help the virus get about”.
Elsewhere in the fiscal statement, Mr Hunt announced that the government's energy price guarantee would be extended until June, capping average domestic energy bills at £2,500. He also revealed plans to eventually offer 30 hours of free childcare for all under-5s from the moment maternity care ends, in a bid to get more parents back into work.
Speaking when the messages were leaked, a spokesperson for Mr Hancock said: “There’s nothing new in these messages, and absolutely no public interest in publishing them given the independent inquiry has them all. It’s highly intrusive, completely inappropriate and has all been discussed endlessly before.”
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