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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Boris Johnson to give Covid inquiry unredacted WhatsApps | Boris Johnson to give Covid inquiry unredacted WhatsApps |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The former prime minister has not handed over any messages from before April 2021 - more than a year into the pandemic | The former prime minister has not handed over any messages from before April 2021 - more than a year into the pandemic |
| Boris Johnson has said he is giving his unredacted WhatsApp messages directly to the Covid inquiry. | Boris Johnson has said he is giving his unredacted WhatsApp messages directly to the Covid inquiry. |
| It comes a day after the government said it would seek a judicial review of the inquiry's demand that it hand over messages from the former prime minister and other officials. | It comes a day after the government said it would seek a judicial review of the inquiry's demand that it hand over messages from the former prime minister and other officials. |
| Mr Johnson said he understood why the government was taking legal action, but added that this was not his decision. | |
| He said he was "perfectly content" for the inquiry to see his messages. | He said he was "perfectly content" for the inquiry to see his messages. |
| In a letter to the head of the Covid inquiry Baroness Hallett, Mr Johnson said he would be sending her "all unredacted WhatsApps I provided to the Cabinet Office". | In a letter to the head of the Covid inquiry Baroness Hallett, Mr Johnson said he would be sending her "all unredacted WhatsApps I provided to the Cabinet Office". |
| These messages date back only to April 2021 - more than a year into the pandemic - because Mr Johnson's phone was involved in a security breach and has not been turned on since. | These messages date back only to April 2021 - more than a year into the pandemic - because Mr Johnson's phone was involved in a security breach and has not been turned on since. |
| Mr Johnson said he would like to send the inquiry messages pre-dating April 2021, but that he had been told he could no longer "access safely" his old phone. | |
| The messages received before April 2021 would be likely to cover discussions about the coronavirus lockdowns implemented in 2020. | |
| Mr Johnson said he would like to "test" the advice received from the security services and had asked the Cabinet Office for assistance in turning his old phone on securely. | |
| He added he no longer had access to his contemporaneous notebooks as he handed these to the Cabinet Office. | |
| Government 'will probably lose' Covid legal case | |
| Why row about Covid WhatsApp messages matters | |
| "I have asked that the Cabinet Office pass these to you. If the government chooses not to do so, I will ask for these to returned to my office so that I can provide them to you directly." | |
| Earlier this week, the Covid inquiry told the government to submit messages sent between Mr Johnson and 40 other ministers and officials during the pandemic by 16:00 BST on Thursday. | |
| The Cabinet Office - which supports the prime minister in running the government - has argued many of the messages are not relevant, and that to hand them over would compromise ministers' privacy and hamper future decision-making. | |
| Baroness Hallett, the retired judge and crossbench peer who is chairing the inquiry, has said it is up to her to decide what material is relevant. | |
| Speaking to BBC's Question Time, Science minister George Freeman said he thought the "courts will probably take the view" that Baroness Hallett is entitled to decide "what evidence she deems relevant". | |
| But he added that "people's privacy is really important" and that the question of how private correspondence should be handled was a "point worth testing". | |
| "I would like to see a situation where the inquiry says: 'Listen, we will wholly respect the privacy of anything that's not related to Covid. We will redact it'," he said. | |
| Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, described the government's legal action as a "desperate attempt to withhold evidence". | |
| Related Topics | |
| Coronavirus public inquiry | |
| Boris Johnson | |
| Cabinet Office |