UK’s former prime minister Boris Johnson has submitted his WhatsApp messages and notes to the Cabinet Office as demanded by the Covid inquiry.
He has asked the government to “urgently disclose” all of his commutations without any redactions.
“All Boris Johnson’s material — including WhatsApps and notebooks — requested by the Covid inquiry has been handed to the Cabinet Office in full and in unredacted form,” the spokesman’s statement said.
The material includes 24 notebooks with contemporaneous notes, as well as his diaries and WhatsApp messages between Johnson and cabinet ministers, advisers and senior civil servants.
The Covid inquiry panel is investigating how ministers handled the pandemic, even as the government has so far refused to hand over the material as it deems it to be irrelevant to the case.
The Cabinet Office, which is responsible for overseeing the operation of government, has been given until Thursday 4 pm (local time) by the inquiry panel to share all the information it asked for it.
Govt hesitant to share messages, notes
But the government has been reticent to share all the details, arguing that ministers have the right to discuss policies in private. The Cabinet Office is also planning to approach the courts to decide what is relevant to the inquiry, reports BBC.
However, the inquiry’s chairwoman, crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, said it was her role and not that of the government, to decide what was relevant.
Some senior Conservative MPs have urged the government to back down to avoid a lengthy legal showdown.
UK: Boris Johnson’s Covid breach inquiry threatens legal action
William Wragg, chairman of a parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs, told the BBC, “If the inquiry requests documents and info – then whoever it has asked should comply.”
An inquiry panel was formed by Johnson’s government in 2021 after Britain recorded one of the world’s highest number of Covid deaths. The inquiry is probing the country’s preparedness as well as its public health and economic response.
It is believed that the reason government is hesitant to share all the details is because of the impending elections next year, and that the revelations would not only politically hurt Johnson, but also current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was finance minister during the pandemic.
Johnson said he would cooperate with the inquiry in full.
“While Johnson understands the government’s position, and does not seek to contradict it, he is perfectly happy for the inquiry to have access to this material in whatever form it requires,” the spokesman said.
The former PM had to face the wrath of the public and eventually booted out of office over personal conduct during the COVID-19 lockdown where he was found to be partying when the country was suffering.
(With inputs from agencies)
