The government has faced accusations of a deliberate “cover-up” as it seeks to prevent the COVID inquiry from accessing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks. Bereaved families and opposition parties criticized Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the Cabinet Office announced that it was taking the unusual step of seeking a judicial review of Baroness Hallett’s order to release the documents.
Despite Mr. Johnson’s initial statement expressing willingness to comply with the inquiry chairwoman’s request and hand over the materials directly, the Cabinet Office has now brought the judicial review challenge, stating regret but affirming its intention to cooperate with the inquiry. This move has drawn sharp criticism from the legal practice representing the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, Broudie Jackson Canter, who characterized it as a display of “utter disregard for the inquiry.”
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner accused the prime minister of engaging in a “desperate attempt to withhold evidence,” emphasizing that the public deserves answers rather than another cover-up. Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, described the government’s judicial review as a “kick in the teeth” for the bereaved families of the thousands of people who lost their lives to COVID during the pandemic.
The Cabinet Office’s argument centers around the claim that the documents and messages being sought by the inquiry are “unambiguously irrelevant” and pertain to matters “unconnected to the government’s handling of COVID.” However, documents released as part of the legal proceedings revealed that the WhatsApp messages provided by Mr. Johnson cover only the period from May 2021 onwards, more than a year after the start of the pandemic. It was also disclosed that Mr. Johnson changed his mobile phone in 2021 due to the revelation that his number had been available online for 15 years.
The documents further included a list of 150 questions posed to Mr. Johnson by the inquiry in February, including inquiries into his alleged statement about preferring to “let the bodies pile high” rather than order another lockdown and whether he received advice to remove the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, from his position. The inquiry’s spokesperson stated that additional information regarding the Cabinet Office’s challenge would be provided at a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 6th.
