Cabinet Office tells Covid inquiry it does not have Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages

The Cabinet Office has told the Covid-19 inquiry that it cannot hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and notebooks because it does not possess them.

The inquiry has given the government until Thursday afternoon to explain what measures it has taken to gather the material, postponing a likely legal battle by two days.

In a further complication, Johnson claimed he was happy to pass the documents to the Cabinet Office but that officials had not asked.

The government had previously been given until 4pm today to comply with the order from the public inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett. It has requested unredacted WhatsApp messages exchanged by Johnson and 40 government figures, including Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Matt Hancock, Dominic Cummings — who was Johnson’s chief adviser — and Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, between January 1 2020 and February 24 last year.

The inquiry has also demanded that the government hand over Johnson’s unredacted diaries and 24 notebooks from the period. The Cabinet Office has refused on the basis that some of the material, such as diary commitments, is not related to the pandemic.

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A notice from the inquiry published this morning revealed that Cabinet Office officials had told Hallett they do not have the messages or notebooks.

“First, an extension was requested for compliance with the ruling until Monday June 5, 2023,” the notice said. “Second, the inquiry was informed that the Cabinet Office does not have in its possession either Mr Johnson’s WhatsApp messages or Mr Johnson’s notebooks, as sought in the original section 21 Notice.

“The chair rejected the request for an extension of time to June 5 2023, but granted a short extension to 4pm on Thursday June 1 2023.”

Hallett has demanded a “witness statement from a senior civil servant” with “a record of searches that have been made” for the material the inquiry has requested. She also wants “a chronology of correspondence with Mr Johnson, or his office, regarding the identification of potentially relevant” WhatsApps and notebooks.

Baroness Hallett has requested unredacted WhatsApp messages exchanged by Johnson and 40 government figures, including Rishi Sunak

PA

A spokesman for Johnson said that the decision to withhold material was solely the government’s. He said: “Mr Johnson has no objection to disclosing material to the inquiry. He has done so and will continue to do so. The decision to challenge the inquiry’s position on redactions is for the Cabinet Office.”

In a letter to the Cabinet Office on Friday, Johnson is understood to have written: “If the Cabinet Office requires any action to be taken regarding this or any other material you must tell me in writing.

“To date, our office is not aware of having received any instructions or requests from the Cabinet Office regarding this material”.

This morning Sunak defended the government’s handling of the inquiry’s demands. He said: “I think it’s really important that we learn the lessons of Covid and that’s why the inquiry was established. We want to make sure that whatever lessons there are to be learnt are learnt and we do that in a spirit of transparency and candour.”

He added: “With regard to the specific question at the moment, the government is carefully considering its position but it is confident in the approach that it’s taking.”