A former council leader has hit back at claims in Matt Hancock’s pandemic diaries in which Boris Johnson brands him a “t****r from Newcastle”.
In an excerpt from the former health secretary’s diaries, which have been serialised in the Daily Mail, ex-Newcastle Labour leader Nick Forbes is labelled a “chancer” for criticising the Government’s imposition of Covid restrictions in the North East in September 2020. Mr Hancock alleges that the Prime Minister was “indignant” at Mr Forbes claiming the local lockdown measures had been announced in a knee-jerk fashion that had spread “confusion and chaos”.
But the former council leader, who stepped back from city politics in May after being deselected by party members, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that regional leaders suffered “endless frustration” with ministers during the pandemic. Of the I’m a Celebrity… contestant’s diary entry, Mr Forbes said: “Eating kangaroo testicles has clearly affected Matt Hancock’s memory.
