LOCKDOWN FILES: Hancock threatened to withdraw funding for a disability center in MPs district unless he supported deal

BBC ^ | March 7 | BBC

[RandFan]

Matt Hancock supported threatening to block a disability centre in a Tory MP's constituency in a bid to get him to vote for the Covid tier system in England, leaked messages suggest.

WhatsApp messages show Mr Hancock agreed to put pressure on James Daly, Conservative MP for Bury North, if he failed to vote with the government.

Matt Hancock's spokesperson said: "What has been accused here never happened."

Former Tory Party chair Sir Jake Berry called the plan "an absolute disgrace".

In messages leaked to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Hancock's political aide Allan Nixon suggested putting pressure on MPs elected in 2019 whose "re-election hinges" on central government funding.

Mr Nixon proposed warning Mr Daly that funding for a new centre for disabled children and adults in his constituency would be "off the table" if he voted against new plans for a stricter tiered lockdown on 1 December 2020.

Mr Hancock replied: "Yes 100%."

Mr Daly told the Telegraph the threat was never carried out and added he was unaware the Department for Health and Social Care had plans to give Bury North a disability hub, which would provide specialists with a dedicated centre for co-ordinating local activity.

Under the December 2020 tier scheme, every area of England was put into one of three tiers - medium (one), high (two) and very high (three) - with the vast majority of the population in the higher two tiers.

According to the paper, leaked messages show Mr Daly was more concerned with support for pubs in areas placed in the higher tiers because they were unable to serve food.

Under the system, bars in tier two were only allowed to stay open if they served "substantial meals", while those in tier three could only provide takeaways or deliveries.

[RandFan]

WOW. JUST WOW.

He is such an a$$hole.

Get him out of parliament!!

[livius]

Get him into jail. The scope of the deceit and conscious, willful lying, manipulation and outright extortion through fear is almost incredible.

[vg0va3]

Think of the difficult decision the people of England face.

They can support the Tory party that just laughs at their voters as they force them to shut their business, stay locked in their homes for months, take the jab, live in a hotel when they return if they travel across the channel, or face massive fines and jail time.

Or they can support the Labour Party that becomes orgasmic as they force their voters to shut their business, stay locked in their homes for months, take the jab, live in a hotel when they return if they travel across the channel, or face massive fines and jail time.