Police could ‘probe lockdown leak’: Boris Johnson considers criminal inquiry to smoke out mole

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Police could ‘probe lockdown leak’: Boris Johnson considers criminal inquiry to smoke out minister who tipped off press about new national restrictions… triggering Saturday’s shambolic address

  • Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Rishi Sunak, Michael Gove and Matt Hancock
  • They discussed the plan to impose a new lockdown and announce on Monday
  • But hours later the talks were leaked to journalists and revealed to the country
  • A cabinet source now says government is considering reporting matter to police 
  • Complaint has not yet gone to the Met, but force is aware it could be coming

By Dan Sales For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Police could be called in to investigate how secret plans for a new national lockdown were leaked on Friday night to be seen by millions of people.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had joined Rishi Sunak with Michael Gove and Matt Hancock to discuss the hard-line new restrictions before the weekend.

But within hours details of the meeting by the group – nicknamed the ‘Quad’ – had been passed to a number of newspapers.

It meant as front page previews appeared, together will full stories online, just after 10pm on Friday night, the UK found out what was about to happen.

It meant the PM had to bring forward his announcement from his planned press conference on Monday to Saturday, although it was then delayed for three hours.

He launched an investigation and yesterday Michael Gove felt moved to publicly deny he was responsible.

It is understood the Met Police have not yet been approached by the government over the probe.

But officers will be aware of the possibility after seeing reports on Sunday and this morning mentioning it could happen.

A source told MailOnline: ‘At the moment the government has not contacted the police about this.

‘It is very much still in the consideration stage from their side.’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was said to have been furious about the lockdown leak

Separately a cabinet source said of the government: ‘They are going studs up on the leak. They will do everything possible.

‘If they have to bring the police into this they will do that. That is the level of seriousness this is being treated at.

‘The sentiment – particularly among Cabinet ministers – is that when they find the leaker they should be absolutely punished.

‘You can imagine how the Chief Whip feels. 

Michael Gove yesterday denied he was responsible for telling journalists the shutdown plan

Michael Gove yesterday denied he was responsible for telling journalists the shutdown plan

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was also in the meeting on Friday with the other politicians

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was also in the meeting on Friday with the other politicians

Chancellor Rishi Sunak made up the fourth member of the 'Quad' who discussed the plans

Chancellor Rishi Sunak made up the fourth member of the ‘Quad’ who discussed the plans

Key points in COVID lockdown Mark 2 

  • Restrictions will start at midnight on Thursday morning and last until December 2. 
  • People can only leave their homes for specific reasons, such as to do essential shopping, for outdoor exercise, and for work if they are unable to work from home.
  • Non-essential shops will be told to shut, although supermarkets do not need to close off aisles as has happened in Wales.
  • Restaurants and bars will be told to close unless they can operate a takeaway service. 
  • Travel abroad is only permitted for ‘essential’ reasons such as work, people can still return to the UK from abroad. 
  • Leisure centres, gyms, sporting venues, hairdressers and beauty parlours will have to close, although professional sport will continue. 
  • Key businesses that cannot operate remotely – such as construction – should carry on as before with safety precautions.
  • Places of worship can stay open for private prayer. Funerals are limited to close family only.  
  • The furlough scheme will be extended during the period of the lockdown, rather than ending tomorrow as originally planned. 
  • Exercise is permitted with no limits on frequency, but organised sports – including outdoor activities such as golf – will not be permitted. 
  • When the lockdown lapses the Tiers system will be reinstated, leaving questions about what metric will be used to decide whether areas can have restrictions eased. 

‘There is a feeling among some Cabinet ministers that there has been a tendency to reward bad behaviour too much in the past.

‘On something like this that can’t happen,’ they added to the Telegraph. 

On Saturday night Mr Johnson announced a four-week shutdown on Thursday until December 2.

The case was bolstered by a slew of graphs and projections that showed predictions of thousands more deaths if action was not taken.

Meanwhile a hunt was on for the mole in the sparsely-attended Friday meeting.

Asked by Andrew Marr on the BBC if he leaked the information, Mr Gove replied: ‘No.’ Asked if he knew who leaked it, he said: ‘No.’

He went on to suggest England risked spending Christmas under a full lockdown if the four-week shutdown failed.

But the prospect of a hunt for journalists’ government sources again raised the spectre of a chilling effect on the free press.

Last year Boris Johnson himself strongly defended the right of the press to publish leaked government documents, following police announcing it was investigating the leak of dispatches from Sir Kim Darroch.

At the time Mr Johnson was just a leadership candidate and said any such prosecution would amount to an ‘infringement of press freedom’ and would have a ‘chilling effect’.

He told ITV News: ‘In my view there is no threat to national security implied by the release of this material.

‘It is embarrassing but it is not a threat to national security.

‘It is the duty of media organisations to bring new and interesting facts into the public domain.

That is what they are there for.

‘A prosecution on this basis would amount to an infringement on press freedom and have a chilling effect on public debate. That is my view.’