Boris Johnson has deadline to handover Covid diaries extended – as ministers gear up for court clash
THE Cabinet Office does NOT have access to Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and diaries, the Covid-19 inquiry has been told.
It comes as the deadline to hand over documents to senior lawyers investigating the pandemic is just hours away.
Boris Johnson had warned it would be a huge breach of security to let the inquiry access his notebooks and texts.
But in a change of tone this morning, the ex-PM’s team insisted he isn’t against delivering the evidence.
A spokesman for Boris said: “Mr Johnson has no objection to disclosing material to the inquiry. He has done so and will continue to do so.
“The decision to challenge the inquiry’s position on redactions is for the Cabinet Office.”
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Last week the Cabinet Office stood firm in refusing to hand over the materials – despite the threat of legal action from the inquiry.
They have already dished out 55,000 documents and 24 witness statements to the investigation.
In the latest plot twist, officials now say they don’t even have copies of the Boris messages the inquiry is demanding.
Officials argue many of the documents the inquiry wants are “unambiguously irrelevant” to learning lessons from the pandemic.
They also think it would be a major breach of privacy.
On a visit to Kent this morning, Rishi Sunak insisted it’s “really important that we learn the lessons of Covid”.
“We want to make sure that whatever lessons there are to be learned are learned and we do that in a spirit of transparency and candour,” the PM said.
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“With regard to the specific question at the moment, the Government is carefully considering its position but it is confident in the approach that it’s taking.”
If officials don’t give inquiry chief Lady Hallet the documents by 4pm, a court clash between ministers and the investigation they established will ensue.