Boris Johnson has said he will send “all unredacted WhatsApps” directly to the Covid-19 public inquiry, distancing himself from the legal action taken by the UK Government.
The offer from the former prime minister puts pressure on the current Prime Minister over his decision to lodge a judicial review in a bid to see off Baroness Hallett's demands for messages, diaries and notebooks.
It comes just hours after one of Rishi Sunak's ministers admitted the judicial review would almost certainly fail.
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The government has argued that some of the information requested by the inquiry is "unambiguously irrelevant" and includes personal messages.
There is also a fear in government that handing over Mr Johnson’s unredacted messages could set a precedent, and that Lady Hallett could soon come after the messages of others, including Mr Sunak.
In a letter to the former appeal court judge presiding over the inquiry into the handling of the pandemic, Mr Johnson wrote: “The government yesterday decided to take legal action. It was not my decision to do so.
“While I understand the government’s position, I am not willing to let my material become a test case for others when I am perfectly content for the inquiry to see it.”
Mr Johnson has sent some of his WhatsApp to officials at the Cabinet Office, and arranged for his notebooks to be collected.
However, all of the messages supplied so far date are from May 2021 onwards.
Everything before — which would cover the lockdowns — is stored on an older phone which Mr Johnson had to stop using after the celebrity gossip newsletter Popbitch pointed out that the number could be found with a quick Google.
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Mr Johnson told Baroness Hallett he would like to hand over the data stored on his old device.
“I would like to do the same with any material that may be on an old phone which I have previously been told I can no longer access safely.
“In view of the urgency of your request, I believe we need to test this advice, which came from the security services.
“I have asked the Cabinet Office for assistance in turning it on securely so that I can search it for all relevant material.
“I propose to pass all such material directly to you.”
Speaking on the BBC's Question Time, George Freeman, the science minister, said he believed the government's legal challenge was unlikely to succeed.
“I think it is really important that the rules of this are made clear and I absolutely have very little doubt that the courts will find that Baroness Hallett will decide what evidence she deems relevant, and then we’ll get on with it,” he said.
“I think personally it’s quite likely that the courts will rule that Baroness Hallett will decide what evidence [is relevant], but I think it’s a point worth testing.”
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Lord Gavin Barwell, a former Tory MP and Downing Street chief of staff, said the challenge should never have been launched.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve already waited too long to set this inquiry up, and I think people want answers quickly. So I think from a timing point of view, it is a mistake to prolong this process.”
He added: “We’re having the inquiry to give people confidence we’re getting to the truth. And if the government is controlling what the inquiry can and can’t see, then people are not going to get confidence in the outcome.”
The legal case has been criticised by Labour and the Lib Dems.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said the public “deserve answers, not another cover-up”.
The Lib Dems announced that they will try to use an arcane parliamentary procedure to try and force the government's hand.
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