oris Johnson has said he is “more than happy” to hand over his unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks directly to the Covid inquiry, as the Government prepares for a legal battle with the probe.
The Cabinet Office on Thursday confirmed it was seeking a judicial review of inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett’s order to release the documents, arguing that it should not have to hand over material which is “unambiguously irrelevant”.
But Mr Johnson, in his own letter to the inquiry on Thursday evening, offered to hand over the requested material directly.
He wrote: “This is of course without prejudice to the Judicial Review that the Government has now launched. I agree with the Cabinet Office position that in principle advice to ministers should not be made public. That is clearly essential for the effective running of the country and for the impartiality of the civil service.
“I am simply making a practical point: that I see no reason why the inquiry should not be able to satisfy itself about the contents of my own Whatsapps (sic) and notebooks, and to check the relevant Whatsapp (sic) conversations (about 40 of them) for anything that it deems relevant to the Covid inquiry.
“If you wish to have this material forthwith, please let me know where and how you wish me to send it to you.”
In a letter to the inquiry, released after a 4pm deadline to hand over the material, the Cabinet Office said it had provided “as much relevant information as possible, and as quickly as possible” in line with the order.
The letter said that the Cabinet Office was bringing the judicial review challenge “with regret” and promised to “continue to co-operate fully with the inquiry before, during and after the jurisdictional issue in question is determined by the courts”.
That question will centre on whether Lady Hallett’s inquiry has the power to force ministers to release documents and messages which the Cabinet Office believes are “unambiguously irrelevant” and cover matters “unconnected to the Government’s handling of Covid”.
