Jacob Rees-Mogg had Covid test couriered to his home, texts suggest

Former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg had a Covid-19 test for his son couriered to his home when there was a national shortage during the pandemic, leaked texts suggest.

WhatsApp messages leaked to the Daily Telegraph appear to show former health secretary Matt Hancock's adviser helped send the test in September 2020.

The government has been urged to look into the matter.

Mr Rees-Mogg told the BBC he would address it on his GB News chat show.

The messages are part of a trove of more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages linked to Mr Hancock's time as health secretary at the height of the pandemic.

The text messages were passed to the newspaper by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who has been critical of lockdowns. Ms Oakeshott was given copies of the texts while helping Mr Hancock write his book, Pandemic Diaries.

The BBC has not seen or independently verified the WhatsApp messages nor the context in which they were sent.

Mr Hancock's spokesperson said the Telegraph had published "partial leaks" that presented a "distorted account of the pandemic" designed to "fit an anti-lockdown agenda".

The spokesperson said the messages had been made available to the public inquiry into the government's response to the pandemic.

"Instead of spinning and leaks we need the full, comprehensive inquiry, to ensure we are as well prepared as we can be for the next pandemic, whenever it comes," the spokesperson said.

As part of its "Lockdown Files", the Telegraph has published messages it says were sent on 10 September, 2020 by Allan Nixon, Mr Hancock's political special adviser at the time.

One message suggests an initial Covid test for one of Mr Rees-Mogg's children had been lost by the laboratory.

The message goes on to say "we've got a courier going to their family home tonight, child will take the test, and courier will take it straight to the lab. Should have result tomorrow am".

A few days before the date of the message, Sarah Marsh, director of testing at NHS Test and Trace, tweeted to issue her "heartfelt apologies to anyone who cannot get a Covid test at present".

In the same month, media reports said government testing laboratories across the UK were facing a backlog of 185,000 Covid tests. Under the rules at the time, people had to isolate until a negative test was recorded.

Mr Hancock said it could take "weeks" to resolve issues around Covid testing and admitted there were "operational challenges" related to a surge in demand.

Labour has urged the government to determine whether Mr Rees-Mogg received special treatment and not to "hide" behind the Covid inquiry.

A spokesman for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "The government is more than capable of answering those questions now and ensuring that we can have clarity and transparency on those issues."

The Liberal Democrats have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ask him what he knew and when regarding claims that ministers had access to "priority testing".

The party's deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "These reports are just more evidence that it's one rule for Conservative ministers and another for everyone else.

"The government must urgently publish exactly how many Conservative ministers, MPs and their families had access to priority testing when the public faced a national test shortage. The public deserves to know the truth."

But during Prime Minister's Questions earlier, Mr Sunak said the inquiry was "the right way for these things to be looked at" and that he would not comment on "piecemeal bits of information".