Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Phoney war
Johnson gives up Whatsapps despite Government fight to keep them from Covid probe
BORIS Johnson says he has sent his Whatsapp messages to the Covid-19 inquiry, despite the Government’s legal bid to stop them being handed over.
Allies of the former PM accused Rishi Sunak’s ministers of going to court to challenge the request because they do not want to hand over the contents of their phones.
But in a letter to inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett, Mr Johnson wrote: “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.
“I am therefore providing the material directly to your inquiry today in unredacted form.”
The messages cover the period from May 2021 onwards.
Whatsapps from before then are on an old mobile phone, which Mr Johnson stopped using due to security concerns. “I have asked the Cabinet Office for assistance in turning it on securely so that I can search it for all relevant material,” he wrote. “I propose to pass all such material directly to you.” A cyber security expert said the potential risks of switching on Mr Johnson’s old device are “minimal”. Professor Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey, said: “It really wouldn’t take much to turn the phone on and get those messages off quite safely.” Baroness Hallett is in a legal row with ministers over the submission of Mr Johnson’s correspondence. The Cabinet Office missed a deadline on Thursday to hand over his messages and notebooks without any redactions. The department said it was bringing a judicial review “with regret”.
Former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland warned it was a “fool’s errand” for the Government to take legal action in a bid to stop unredacted documents being handed over. The Tory MP told LBC: “This judicial review is a bit of a fool’s errand… I just think this is wasting time and time is not what the victims and those who are really affected by the events of the Covid crisis will want to see being wasted.” Former Downing Street chief of staff Gavin Barwell said: “Some of the messages might be a bit embarrassing but, nonetheless, I think they’re making a bad mistake.” Science minister George Freeman said he expected the courts to side with Baroness Hallett.
I will not let my material be a test case... I am content for you to see it
BORIS JOHNSON HANDING OVER HIS MESSAGES
WHATEVER his motives, Boris Johnson has done the right thing by promising to hand his Whatsapp messages directly to the Covid Inquiry.
It could be the former PM genuinely wants to help the investigation. Or he may be seeking to embarrass Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Regardless of his reasons, and despite the rather odd delay in providing his older messages, it is an outrage that Baroness Hallett is having to fight the Government tooth and nail to access the records of ministers and officials.
To claim the inquiry is on a fishing expedition for irrelevant details is a nonsense.
If information is not relevant it will not be used. But it’s for the inquiry to decide what’s in the public interest, not ministers who may have something to hide.
By blocking the release of the documents Mr Sunak shows he has no regard for the truth, bereaved families or taxpayers’ money.