Government to launch legal bid to stop Covid inquiry seeing Johnson WhatsApps

The government is to launch an unprecedented legal challenge over the Covid inquiry's demand for WhatsApp messages and documents.

Officials missed a 16:00 deadline to disclose messages between Boris Johnson and his advisers during the pandemic, as well as his diaries and notebooks.

It is thought to be the first time a government has taken legal action against an inquiry it has set up.

Mr Johnson said he was "happy" to hand over unredacted material if asked.

In a letter to Baroness Hallett, the chair of the Covid inquiry, Mr Johnson said: "If you wish to have this material forthwith, please let me know where and how you wish me to send it to you."

A mobile phone used by Mr Johnson during a crucial period in the pandemic was involved in a security breach, and has not been turned on since, according to a spokesman for the former prime minister.

In April 2021, over a year after the first lockdown had been introduced in the UK, it was revealed Mr Johnson's mobile number had discoverable online for over 15 years. The contents of this phone has not been seen by the Covid inquiry, the BBC has been told.

Mr Johnson has written to the Cabinet Office asking whether security and technical support can be given so that content can be retrieved without compromising security, the spokesman added.

The government has refused to disclose some of the material, arguing it is not relevant to the inquiry's work.

But the inquiry's boss says deciding what is relevant should be her job.

Crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, says she needs to see the messages to see if they are relevant to the inquiry's investigation into how the government handled the pandemic.

The government says handing over the requested material would set a precedent that could prevent ministers discussing policy matters in future.

The Cabinet Office, which is taking the lead for the government, has said it will apply for a judicial review. This means a judge will decide whether the inquiry had overreached its legal powers to demand evidence.

Elkan Abrahamson, the lawyer representing the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, said: "The Cabinet Office is showing utter disregard for the inquiry in maintaining their belief that they are the higher power and arbiter of what is relevant material and what is not.

"It raises questions about the integrity of the inquiry and how open and transparent it will be if the chair is unable to see all of the material."

Opposition parties have accused Rishi Sunak's government of trying to obstruct the Covid inquiry and urged him to comply with its requests.

Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: "These latest smoke-and-mirror tactics serve only to undermine the Covid Inquiry."

The Liberal Democrats said the legal challenge was "a kick in the teeth for bereaved families who've already waited far too long for answers".

Some senior Conservative MPs had urged the government to back down to avoid a lengthy legal showdown with the Covid inquiry.

Outlining its grounds for legal action, the Cabinet Office said ministers and officials "should not be required to provide material that is irrelevant to the inquiry's work".

It said "irrelevant material" requested by the inquiry included "references to personal and family information, including illness and disciplinary matters", and "comments of a personal nature about identified or identifiable individuals which are unrelated to Covid-19".

The legal challenge came a day after Mr Johnson claimed he had given the Cabinet Office all the WhatsApp messages and notebooks demanded by the Covid inquiry.

He urged the Cabinet Office to submit the material to the inquiry in full, without redactions, adding he would do so himself "if asked".

The inquiry had requested access to WhatsApp messages from Mr Johnson's phone, covering the period 1 January, 2020 to 24 February, 2022.

But the material Mr Johnson submitted did not include messages sent before May 2021.

This was because he had been forced to change phones after a security breach, the director of the Cabinet Office said in a statement to the inquiry.

Mr Johnson changed his mobile phone in 2021 after it emerged his number had been freely available on the internet for the past 15 years.