The Lockdown Files could soon claim their first scalp. Conservative MP and chairman of the Health Select Committee Steve Brine is facing calls to stand down from the role after the Telegraph revealed he had lobbied the government for cash during the pandemic. In February 2021, Brine approached Michael Gove and an adviser in the Department of Health to convince the NHS to hire anaesthetists from Remedium. A firm paying him £1,600 per month.

Brine claimed he had been “trying for months” to secure taxpayer cash for Remedium’s business. This could fall foul of two separate sets of rules – one which prohibits ex-ministers from using their contacts for two years after they leave government, and another which bans MPs from lobbying for any firm within six months of receiving a reward. This isn’t even Brine’s first lobbying charge. He was previously investigated for rule breaking after trying to convince Hancock to hire Remedium staff for Nightingale Hospitals. The only reason he was cleared was that he didn’t pay VAT…

In response, Brine has faced calls to resign his committee chairmanship from across the political divide – Stephen Dorrell, a former Health Minister under John Major, told Sky News Brine should “consider his position”. Guido thinks so too…

Trouble is brewing for the Cabinet Secretary. This morning the FT reports Simon Case is considering quitting the Civil Service, after the latest batch of Lockdown Files WhatsApps reveal Case accused Boris of being “nationally distrusted” and described some lockdown criticism as “pure Conservative ideology”. Not the sort of thing the most senior Civil Servant in the country wants splashing on the front pages…

“Friends” of Simon Case say he is “genuinely undecided” about sticking around even up to the next election, with attacks coming from all sides in the last 24 hours. Civil Service mandarins told the Telegraph last night the leaks had “hurt his reputation” and revealed his “naivety [and] inexperience”. The Times, meanwhile, reported yesterday that Cabinet Ministers are trying to push him out: “Case is looking more and more ridiculous, I think he has to go. Rishi needs to clear him out. It’s the level of indiscretion.”

Cases’s “friends” also claim he’s “fed up” with all the briefings and leaks, and his “original sin was being young and talented and promoted to that job before he was grey“. Presumably his second sin was his direct involvement in the lockdown parties he was supposed to investigate. “Hilarious…”

SW1 has spiralled into a frenzy overnight, as details from The Telegraph’s Lockdown Files continue to emerge. The investigation paints a poor picture of Matt Hancock’s pandemic handling, and was based on thousands of his WhatsApp messages, leaked to The Telegraph by Isabel Oakeshott. The headline finding is that in April 2020, Matt Hancock ignored the advice of Chris Witty to test all people entering care homes – saying it “muddies the waters”. It hardly seems like a “protective ring” around care homes…

The files also paint the picture of a Health Secretary more focussed on meeting his flagship testing target than securing the best outcomes. To quote the man himself, “I WANT TO MEET MY TARGET”. In addition to fudging the definition of tests, so that 28,000 extra could be counted before they were even delivered, Matt was focussed on securing publicity to boost demand. Naturally, this meant giving an exclusive to his mate and former boss in exchange for a front-page splash.

Matt and George’s chummy mutual media back-scratching didn’t end there. Matt initially had a go at George for a media round in which he criticised the government’s response to testing – which Osborne defended on the basis he was trying to “spread responsibility”.

The files also reveal that Hancock and Jacob Rees-Mogg enlisted Special Advisers to get a test couriered to Jacob’s child – at a time of national shortages. Matt’s positive outlook was also on show as he went further than minister Helen Whately, who said her 100-mile round trip for a test showed the system worked for some, by saying it was working “for MOST!”. The British public will no doubt be pleased to see their Health Ministers were focussing on the important things during a global health crisis. Such important issues as “ridiculous” Kay Burley “asking the same nonsensical Q again and again”…

Of course, Hancock’s camp isn’t happy with the revelations. They told Politico’s Playbook:

“Having not been approached in advance by the Telegraph, we have reviewed the messages overnight. The Telegraph intentionally excluded reference to a meeting with the testing team from the WhatsApp. This is critical, because Matt was supportive of Chris Whitty’s advice, held a meeting on its deliverability, told it wasn’t deliverable, and insisted on testing all those who came from hospitals. The Telegraph have been informed that their headline is wrong”.

Sources close to him add Oakeshott broke an NDA and Matt is “considering all options”…