Is it ever ok to scare the public?

In this episode, the reporters dig into leaked messages which show a discussion between Matt Hancock and one of his team. They say “We frighten the pants off everyone with the new strain” and “When do we deploy the new variant”.

The exchanges speak to a so-called “Project Fear”, which prompts the team to ask government ministers about whether decisions made were the right ones…

We also speak to the adviser behind some of the government's messaging…

And to a mum whose children are still dealing with the fall out tells her family’s story.

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If you have any information that could help the investigation, you can email the team on lockdownfiles@telegraph.co.uk |

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