At the height of the pandemic, then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock wanted to announce a new Covid variant to "frighten the pants off everyone", leaked WhatsApp messages have revealed.
The messages, which were leaked to the Telegraph, were sent and received by ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock during the coronavirus crisis.
Hancock and his team were discussing the looming realisation that then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's planned five-day Christmas amnesty would likely have to be scrapped.