A dispute over openness prompted Boris Johnson to turn over to the government all of his Covid notes and WhatsApp communications.
The previous PM instructed ministers to let the Cabinet Office know that the investigation into how the epidemic was handled “urgently” needed the private information.
It follows days of disagreements over what information can be revealed between the government and inquiry chair Baroness Hallett.
In addition, Mr. Johnson said that if the Cabinet Office declines, he could give the information straight to the inquiry.
This afternoon, a spokesman for the former leader announced that the Cabinet Office had received all of the evidence requested by the Covid Inquiry, including WhatsApp messages and notebooks.
Mr. Johnson implores the Cabinet Office to reveal it to the Inquiry immediately.
‘This information has been available to the Cabinet Office for a number of months. If requested, Mr. Johnson would instantly reveal it to the inquiry.
Although Mr. Johnson acknowledges the government’s stance and makes no attempt to refute it, he is more than pleased for the Inquiry to have access to this information in any format that is needed.
The Cabinet Office had argued that it lacked access to the requested materials and that the Government had broader concerns about the disclosure of “unambiguously irrelevant” information.
After receiving a 48-hour extension on Tuesday, the committee has set a deadline of 4 p.m. on Thursday for the delivery of Mr. Johnson’s messages, notebooks, and official diaries.
If the Cabinet Office is unable to deliver the records by the revised deadline, Lady Hallett has asked a witness statement from a senior civil servant together with a statement of truth attesting that the documents are not possessed.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mr. Stride told Sky News: ‘I’m absolutely certain and confident that the Cabinet Office will be engaged in this in exactly the right kind of way, and in the kind of spirit that I’ve just outlined, and making sure that we are absolutely robustly transparent where it is appropriate to be so.
“I believe that is a crucial qualification, to ensure that the inquiry has all the data that it is appropriate to have.”
It followed last night’s statement by Mr. Johnson’s associates that he had “no objection” to providing information to the official Covid investigation as the deadline for providing unredacted messages was extended.
There is no necessity to “permanently store or record every WhatsApp,” according to No. 10, which added that messages pertaining to decision-making are instead copied over to the official record. No. 10 refuted claims of a cover-up. It is “up to individuals to decide what personal information they are able to hand over,” the spokesman said.
An associate of the former prime minister said he had become a “distraction” in the controversy and claimed Sunak was the owner of the WhatsApp messages that “the government really doesn’t want disclosed.” No. 10 rejected this claim.
The Government has been given legal advice to prevent the dissemination of “politically sensitive” information regarding the epidemic, it was revealed last night. According to Bloomberg, papers including conversations between senior ministers during the Covid issue should not be made public “as a matter of course” to protect the idea of shared accountability.
Insisting that the Government was working “in a spirit of transparency and candor,” Mr. Sunak insisted Tuesday. However, if the Cabinet Office refuses to release the documents, Lady Hallett has requested a witness statement from a senior civil servant along with a declaration of fact certifying they are not in their possession.
The probe is requesting communications between Mr. Johnson and a variety of officials, including the chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty, the former health secretary Matt Hancock, the former senior adviser Dominic Cummings, and the then-chancellor Mr. Sunak, according to the notification requesting the unredacted messages.
Assertions that the inquiry’s request was illegal were denied by Lady Hallett last week, who also asserted that the Cabinet Office had “misunderstood the breadth of the investigation.”
However, we are firmly of the opinion that the inquiry does not have the jurisdiction to request unambiguously irrelevant information that is outside the focus of this investigation, a Cabinet Office spokesman said last night. “We are fully committed to our obligations” to the inquiry, the spokesman added. This covers any non-work-related WhatsApp conversations sent by government personnel.
