Matt Hancock and Isabel Oakeshott: A tale of scoops, betrayal and WhatsApp

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. And then Oakeshott was asked why she didn't use her Times employer for the 'scoop'

and she ran off in a huff:

Isabel Oakeshott hangs up on Times Radio during heated interview

Isabel Oakeshott, TalkTV’s international editor, broke a non-disclosure agreement to leak thousands of messages sent by Hancock, which she had access to through co-writing his book, the Pandemic Diaries.

Oakeshott clashed with Cathy Newman on Friday during a Times Radio interview, in which Newman questioned Oakeshott on her decision to work with the Telegraph on the story, rather than her colleagues at TalkTV or affiliated papers the Times, the Sunday Times and the Sun.

Newman had asked whether it was fair that “producers and reporters on a fraction of your salary were having to kind of put up with your sloppy seconds, and follow up on the story in a rival newspaper”, making reference to her £250,000 salary.
...
The interview ended when Oakeshott hung up halfway through a question about her protection of her sources.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/mar/04/isabel-oakeshott-hangs-up-on-times-radio-during-heated-interview

Yeah, no sympathy for anyone involved, though the "scoops" are mostly damp squibs. Gavin Williamson saying some teachers were looking for "an excuse to avoid having to teach" might have been significant, if he hadn't already had to resign over bullying allegations. I wonder if someone in the Times complex took a look at what she offered and said "so what?" Or if she went to the Telegraph to get more of an anti-lockdown spin on it.