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Boris Johnson says he has handed over Covid WhatsApps Boris Johnson says he has handed over Covid WhatsApps
(about 2 hours later)
Boris Johnson claims he has given his WhatsApp messages and notebooks in full to the government to give to the Covid inquiry. Boris Johnson says he has given the government all the WhatsApp messages and notebooks demanded by the Covid inquiry.
The inquiry has demanded that the Cabinet Office hand over the unredacted material by 4pm on Thursday. The former PM is urging the Cabinet Office to hand the material to the inquiry in full, without redactions.
A spokesman for the former PM said he urged the Cabinet Office to "urgently disclose it to the inquiry". The inquiry, which begins public hearings in two weeks, is investigating how ministers handled the pandemic.
But the Cabinet Office has argued some of the material is not relevant to the inquiry's work. The Cabinet Office has so far refused to hand over material it does not consider relevant.
Mr Johnson's spokesman said the Cabinet Office had had "access to this material for several months" and he would disclose it directly to the inquiry if asked. It has argued that politicians must have the right to discuss policies in private and a leading lawyer is in the process of deciding what is relevant to the inquiry.
"While Mr 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," he added.
Mr Johnson is among those who will give evidence to the inquiry, which is due to start hearings in two weeks.
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The material includes 24 notebooks with contemporaneous notes, as well as his diaries and WhatsApp messages between Mr Johnson and cabinet ministers, advisors and senior civil servants.
On Tuesday, the inquiry revealed it had been told the Cabinet Office did not currently have the WhatsApp messages or notebooks in its possession.
If the department still does not have the material by Thursday, the inquiry said it must instead provide its correspondence with Mr Johnson over the issue.
The Cabinet Office has been speaking to Mr Johnson about the issue, including on Wednesday.
The BBC has asked the department whether it now has the relevant information it previously said was not in its possession.
The government has argued the inquiry does not have the power to request "unambiguously relevant information", such as personal messages.
However, the inquiry's chairwoman, crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, said it was her role, not that of the government, to decide what was relevant.However, the inquiry's chairwoman, crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, said it was her role, not that of the government, to decide what was relevant.
It could lead to a legal battle between the government and inquiry, with the courts deciding what material is made available. The inquiry has given the Cabinet Office until 16:00 BST on Thursday to change its mind and disclose all of the information.
It could lead to a legal battle between the government and the inquiry, with the courts deciding what material is made available.
Mr Johnson's spokesman has also said the former PM would hand over the material directly to the Covid inquiry if asked.
Cabinet Office sources have stressed that individuals are at liberty to share any information with the inquiry team, so Mr Johnson could choose to hand things over directly.
The exception, they say, are documents such as government diaries which they argue any government would need to look at for national security reasons.
Mr Johnson's spokesperson has claimed that the Cabinet Office has had access to all these unredacted documents for "months", but has said the former prime minister handed over more material today.
Officials 'looking at' new material
"While Mr 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 Cabinet Office said it had received the material from Mr Johnson and "officials are looking at it".
The material includes 24 notebooks with contemporaneous notes, as well as his diaries and WhatsApp messages between Mr Johnson and cabinet ministers, advisers and senior civil servants.
The inquiry said on Tuesday it had been told the Cabinet Office did not have access to all the information it had been asked for.
Cabinet Office sources say the reason for this, contrary to what Mr Johnson has claimed, is because the former PM was previously working with lawyers employed by the government who were working through his notebooks, diaries and WhatsApp messages.
But they say when Mr Johnson cut ties with those lawyers, the Cabinet Office lost access to those documents.
The BBC has been told the Cabinet Office legal team visited Mr Johnson's office to inspect the notebooks.The BBC has been told the Cabinet Office legal team visited Mr Johnson's office to inspect the notebooks.
Mr Johnson has since stopped cooperating with his government-appointed lawyers and is appointing his own. The Liberal Democrats urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to submit the material requested by the inquiry and to stop using Mr Johnson "as an excuse to avoid handing over vital evidence".
Opposition parties and campaign groups representing bereaved families have called for the material to be released to the inquiry in full. There has been friction between Mr Sunak's government and Mr Johnson over the Cabinet Office's decision to refer him to police over further potential Covid rule breaches during the pandemic.
The Cabinet Office said it made the referral following a review of his official diary by government lawyers as part of the Covid inquiry.
The former PM has dismissed claims of any breaches as a "politically motivated stitch-up".
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Boris JohnsonBoris Johnson