The former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has provided the federal government with all the WhatsApp messages and notebooks requested by the Covid-19 inquiry. Johnson is encouraging the federal government to submit the materials to the inquiry without any redactions. The inquiry, set to start public hearings in two weeks, will investigate the government’s dealing with of the pandemic. However, the government has refused to submit supplies it deems irrelevant.
The Covid inquiry has given the Cabinet Office a deadline to reveal all requested info. The Cabinet Office contends that ministers should have the proper to debate policies privately and has appointed a number one lawyer to determine what is related. Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett, a crossbench peer, argues that it is her role, not the government’s, to resolve on relevance. This disagreement could end in a authorized battle between the Cabinet Office and the inquiry, with courts determining the provision of materials.
Some senior Conservative MPs have called for the federal government to back right down to avoid a protracted authorized confrontation. William Wragg, the chairman of a parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs, stated, “If the inquiry requests paperwork and info – then whoever it has asked ought to comply.”
A spokesperson for Johnson has mentioned that the previous Prime Minister would submit the materials directly to the Covid inquiry if requested. Cabinet Office sources have emphasised that individuals are free to share any info with the inquiry staff, excluding documents such as government diaries, which they argue should be reviewed for nationwide security causes.
Refund claimed that the Cabinet Office has had access to all unredacted paperwork for “months” and that Johnson provided additional materials on Wednesday. The Cabinet Office confirmed receipt of the supplies from Johnson and said that “officials are taking a look at it.”
The materials embrace 24 notebooks with contemporaneous notes, diaries, and WhatsApp messages between Johnson and cabinet ministers, advisers, and senior civil servants. The inquiry introduced on Tuesday that it had been informed that the Cabinet Office did not have access to all requested info.
Cabinet Office sources declare that the reason for this, opposite to Johnson’s assertions, is as a result of the former Prime Minister had beforehand been working with government-employed lawyers who have been reviewing his notebooks, diaries, and WhatsApp messages. When Johnson severed ties with these legal professionals, the Cabinet Office misplaced entry to the documents. It has been reported that the Cabinet Office legal team visited Johnson’s workplace to inspect the notebooks..