Legal Challenge Launched to Block Release of Boris Johnson’s Unedited WhatsApp Messages
Rishi Sunak’s government has refused to hand over Boris Johnson’s unedited WhatsApp messages to the official Covid public inquiry, launching a legal challenge to block their release. The move puts Sunak at loggerheads with the investigation led by former Justice Baroness Heather Hallett, thereby fuelling claims from opposition parties that she was presiding over a “cover-up”.
Cabinet Office revealed that Johnson had only given him communication logs covering the period from May 2021, more than a year after the pandemic hit Britain and the same month he bought a new phone and announced the COVID investigation. The former Prime Minister was now requested by the Cabinet Office to provide any additional messages required by the COVID inquiry.
Hallett has given the government until 4 pm on Thursday to turn over unredacted material relating to Johnson’s time as Prime Minister, including WhatsApp messages and notebooks. However, at 4:20 pm, the Cabinet Office announced it would seek permission to initiate a judicial review, arguing that Hallett was exceeding his statutory powers by requesting the entire deposit of unpublished material.
Sunak was Chancellor during the pandemic and was sceptical of the lockdowns, warning of the economic damage they would cause. The decision to seek judicial review represents a break-in relations between the Sunak government and the investigation launched by Johnson to learn from the COVID crisis. Whether he will delay proceedings remains to be seen.
Johnson had indicated he was willing to see all of his unedited WhatsApp messages, notebooks, and diaries handed over to the inquiry, and opposition parties said Sunak was blocking Hallett’s work. Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, accused Sunak of engaging in a “desperate attempt to hide evidence” and said “the public deserves answers, not another cover-up”.
Additional Piece: Sunak battles to keep Boris Johnson’s unedited WhatsApp messages private
Rishi Sunak, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and the country’s former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson clashed this week when Sunak refused to release Johnson’s unedited WhatsApp messages to the official COVID public inquiry, instead launching a legal challenge to try to block their release.
The controversy has fuelled claims from opposition parties that Sunak presided over a “cover-up.” The Cabinet Office reveals that Johnson has only given him communication logs covering the period from May 2021, more than a year after the pandemic hit Britain.
The investigation led by former Justice Baroness Heather Hallett has given the government until 4 pm on Thursday to turn over unredacted material relating to Johnson’s time as Prime Minister, including WhatsApp messages and notebooks. Still, at 4:20 pm, the Cabinet Office announced it would seek permission to initiate a judicial review, arguing that Hallett was exceeding his statutory powers by requesting the entire deposit of unpublished material.
Sunak’s government, including his opposition to lockdowns during the pandemic, has strained relations between the him and Johnson. Johnson had indicated he was willing to see all of his unedited WhatsApp messages, notebooks, and diaries handed over to the inquiry, and opposition parties said Sunak was blocking Hallett’s work. Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, accused Sunak of engaging in a “desperate attempt to hide evidence.”
In conclusion, the ongoing legal battle to keep Boris Johnson’s unedited WhatsApp messages private underscores the need for transparency and accountability in government. History has proven that cover-ups and deception are corrosive to democracy and undermine public trust and confidence in our institutions. Now more than ever, political leaders must uphold the highest ethical standards and work together with the public to overcome the ongoing pandemic and its ramifications.
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Rishi Sunak’s government on Thursday refused to hand over Boris Johnson’s unedited WhatsApp messages to the official Covid public inquiry, instead launching a legal challenge to try to block their release.
The move puts Sunak at at loggerheads with the investigationled by former Justice Baroness Heather Hallett, and fueled claims by opposition parties that she was presiding over a “cover-up”.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office has revealed this Johnson had only given him communications covering the period from May 2021, more than a year after the pandemic hit Britain and the same month he ‘bought a new phone’ and announced the Covid investigation.
The former prime minister was now requested by the Cabinet Office to provide any additional messages required by the Covid inquiry.
Johnson will face questions about what happened to the texts on his old phone.
Hallett has given the government until 4pm on Thursday to turn over unredacted material relating to Johnson’s time as prime minister, including WhatsApp messages and notebooks.
But at 4.20pm the Cabinet Office announced it would seek permission to initiate a judicial review, arguing that Hallett was exceeding his statutory powers by requesting the entire deposit of unpublished material.
There is an understanding in Whitehall that the decision on whether or not Johnson’s submissions should be sent raw will set a precedent for what other ministers – including Sunak himself – may need to deliver to Hallett’s team at a later date.
Sunak was chancellor during the pandemic and was skeptical of the lockdowns, warning of the economic damage they would cause.
The decision to seek judicial review represents a break in relations between the Sunak government and the investigation launched by Johnson to learn from the Covid crisis; whether he will delay proceedings remains to be seen.
The Cabinet Office said the decision was taken “with regret” but that it would call into question the right of the inquiry to “compel the production of documents and messages which are unequivocally irrelevant to the work of the inquiry”.
He added: “We believe that important questions of principle are at stake here, affecting both the rights of individuals and the proper conduct of government.
“Requesting unequivocally irrelevant material is beyond the powers of the inquiry.” Hallett argued that he should decide whether the material is irrelevant or not.
The cabinet office said its requests represented “an unwarranted intrusion into other aspects of government work” and an intrusion into the privacy of officials and ministers.
Johnson had indicated he was willing to see all of his unedited WhatsApp messages, notebooks and diaries handed over to the inquiry and opposition parties said Sunak was blocking Hallett’s work.
Angela Rayner, Labor’s deputy leader, accused Sunak of engaging in a “desperate attempt to hide evidence”.
“After 13 years of Tory scandal, these latest smoke tactics only serve to undermine the Covid inquiry. The public deserves answers, not another cover-up,” he said.
“Instead of digging further into a hole pursuing doomed legal battles to hide the truth, Rishi Sunak must fully comply with the Covid inquiry’s demands for evidence. There can be no more excuses.”
Speaking earlier at a summit in Moldova, Sunak insisted the government was “confident in our position”. He underlined the importance of drawing lessons from the pandemic and of tackling the investigation “with a spirit of rigor but also with transparency and frankness”.
The government has handed over more than 55,000 documents and “will, of course, continue to abide by the law” and “cooperate with the investigation,” Sunak said.
Officials accused the inquiry of taking an “absolutist” approach to disclosing the material, but insisted the dispute over the issue was non-adversarial.
https://www.ft.com/content/32b70216-10b6-4153-a19d-f389a48e71fe
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