Boris Johnson passes all unredacted WhatsApps to Cabinet Office for Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson has asked the government to 'urgently disclose' the unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks that he handed to the Cabinet Office as part of the Covid-19 inquiry, Harry Horton reports

The development comes less than 24 hours ahead of a deadline set by the Covid inquiry for the Cabinet Office to either share the material or explain why it was refusing to.

The Cabinet Office now has until 4pm on Thursday, having been granted a 48-hour extension on Tuesday, to decide whether it wants to provide the inquiry with the material however ministers are said to be be concerned about the precedent that would set.

Downing Street said the government believes it has no duty to disclose "unambiguously irrelevant" material. It claimed on Tuesday that it does not hold the information being requested.

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A statement from Mr Johnson's spokesman said: "The Cabinet Office has had access to this material for several months. Mr Johnson would immediately disclose it directly to the Inquiry if asked.

"While Mr Johnson understands the government’s position, and does not seek to contradict it, he is perfectly happy for the Inquiry to have access to this material in whatever form it requires.

"Mr Johnson cooperated with the Inquiry in full from the beginning of this process and continues to do so.

"Indeed, he established the Inquiry. He looks forward to continuing to assist the Inquiry with its important work."

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The decision by Mr Johnson to hand over the material will add to pressure on the Cabinet Office, with Downing Street already forced to deny allegations of a "cover-up", amid criticism over the public row with the inquiry.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a close ally of Mr Johnson and former Cabinet minister, denied there was a cover up.

He told ITV News: "It's not about apportioning blame or hiding, there's no great cover up - it's just how do we make sure if it were to happen again we do it better."

Whitehall officials are concerned about setting a precedent by handing over all the requested documents in unredacted form, rather than deciding what material is relevant and should be submitted to the inquiry.

Refusing to comply with the request to hand over the documents - which include text conversations between Mr Johnson and a host of government figures including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - could lead to a court battle with the official inquiry.

But Whitehall officials hope that a compromise can be reached before the 4pm deadline to avoid the need for a damaging legal fight with the inquiry set up to examine the pandemic and the government's response.

Explaining concerns about sharing documents with the inquiry last week, Mr Sunak's spokesman said: "The principle in question here is around disclosure of materials which are clearly irrelevant to the work of the inquiry - for example WhatsApps which are personal in nature, of no relevance to the work of the inquiry, or relate to a wholly different area of policy.

"It's our position that the inquiry does not have the power to compel the government to disclose unambiguously irrelevant material, given the precedent that this would set and its potential adverse impact on policy formulation in the future."

Following the news that Mr Johnson will hand over messages to the Covid-inquiry, the Lib Dems have called on Mr Sunak to do the same.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "Rishi Sunak must now confirm he will hand over any messages requested by the Covid inquiry, including those sent by him and other Conservative ministers.

"He can't use Boris Johnson any more as an excuse to avoid handing over vital evidence.

"Bereaved families are still waiting for answers. They deserve so much better than yet another Conservative stitch up."

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