Boris Johnson – latest: Ex-PM goes over Sunak’s head to send unredacted WhatsApps ‘directly’ to inquiry

WhatsApp row rumbles on as ex-PM vows to bypass government and send information straight to inquiry

Sunak refuses to rule out court action against Covid Inquiry

Boris Johnson has told the Covid-19 Inquiry that he is willing to hand over “all unredacted WhatsApp” messages – including 2020 material from a previous phone discarded for security reasons.

The former prime minister is under fire once again after it emerged on Thursday that he had only handed over Covid-related messages from May 2021 or later to Cabinet Office officials.

In a letter to inquiry chair Baroness Hallett, Mr Johnson said he would today hand over all the material already given to the Cabinet Office “in unredacted form” to her team.

Earlier, a minister said Rishi Sunak’s legal bid to prevent the inquiry from obtaining WhatsApp messages sent by Boris Johnson to government colleagues during the pandemic was likely to fail.

Science minister George Freeman, appearing on BBC Question Time, insisted the Cabinet Office decision to launch judicial review proceedings was not a “cynical waste of time” but admitted he thought the prospect of success unlikely.

The Cabinet Office is seeking a judicial review of inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett’s order to release the documents, arguing it should not have to hand over irrelevant material.

Key Points

• Government legal action likely to fail, minister admits
• Johnson offers to send unaltered files directly to inquiry
• Government takes inquiry to court to protect Boris’s WhatsApps
• Deadline for government to hand over WhatsApps expires
• Government says ‘important principles at stake'
• Ex-PM contradicts Cabinet Office claim

[2 June 2023 09:26 · Matt Mathers]

Public ‘sick and tired’ of government ‘ducking scrutiny'

The public is “sick and tired” of the government’s attempts to “duck scrutiny”, the Lib Dems said as they announced they would try to force Rishi Sunak to publish “all material” relevant to the Covid inquiry.

Christine Jardine, the party’s Cabinet Office spokeswoman, said the Lib Dems will table a humble address motion next week as the row over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages rumbles on.

“People are sick and tired of the government’s attempts to duck scrutiny by refusing to hand over these messages in full,” Ms Jardine said. “Rishi Sunak promised to govern with integrity and accountability, instead it’s just more chaos and cover-ups.

"Bereaved families deserve full transparency instead of this endless game of smoke and mirrors.”

She added: "It’s time for MPs to come together, end this Conservative cover-up and force the government to come clean."

Speaking on Sky News, she denied her party is "playing politics" although the motion is unlikely to get a vote.

[2 June 2023 09:00 · Matt Mathers]

Suspended Labour MP ‘boasted about taking prostitutes to parliament’

A Labour MP suspended by the party over sexual harassment allegations is facing fresh claims he “boasted” about bringing sex workers into parliamentary bars.

Geraint Davies has been suspended pending an investigation into reports of “incredibly serious allegations of completely unacceptable behaviour”.

One woman has submitted a formal complaint after the Politico website initially reported that five other women made sexual harassment claims against the politician. The MP said he did not “recognise” the claims.

Adam Forrest reports:

[2 June 2023 08:45 · Matt Mathers]

Government ‘directly responsible’ for ongoing rail dispute, union boss claims

Rail union boss Mick Lynch has claimed the government is “directly responsible” for an ongoing row over pay as some 20,000 train workers take part in a fresh wave of strikes.

Mr Lynch, RMT general secretary, accused ministers of costing the economy “£5bn in the course of this dispute” as he hit out at big dividend payments to train company shareholders.

Strikes by railway workers continued on Friday, causing fresh travel disruption for passengers. Members of the RMT, union employed by train operators across England, walked out in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

Train services were disrupted by the action, which comes almost a year after the RMT held its first strike in the same dispute.

More comments from Mr Lunch below:

[2 June 2023 08:30 · Matt Mathers]

Shadow minister unaware of rumours about MP suspended over sexual harassment allegations

A shadow minister has said he was unaware of rumors about a colleague suspended over allegations of sexual harassment.

Alex Norris, shadow levelling up minister, spoke to Sky News earlier this morning after Welsh MP Geraint Davies had the whip removed following reports of “unacceptable behaviour”.

Mr Davies said he did not recognise the claims of multiple women who say he subjected them to unwanted sexual attention.

Reports say the Swansea West MP’s behaviour was an “open secret”.

“What I read yesterday was what everybody else read,” Mr Norris told Sky News earlier. “That was the first time I’d seen or heard those things”.

[2 June 2023 08:15 · Matt Mathers]

Boris Johnson fails to hand over crucial WhatsApps

Boris Johnson is yet to hand over any WhatsApp messages showing discussions he had during the 2020 Covid lockdowns, the government has said.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry wants to see WhatsApps messages and notebooks kept by the former prime minister to build a picture of how decisions were taken in government.

But the former PM has only handed over a message archive dating to May 2021 or later, according to a witness statement published by the Cabinet Office on Thursday and sent to the inquiry.

Jon Stone and Adam Forrest report:

[2 June 2023 07:56 · Matt Mathers]

Covid victims don’t want government ‘wasting time’ - ex-justice secretary

“Wasting time” is not what those worst affected by Covid want to see from the government, the former justice secretary has said as he weighed in on the row over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages to the official inquiry into ministers’ handling of the pandemic.

Sir Robert Buckland KC, the MP for Swindon South who held the justice brief under Mr Johnson, said Baroness Hallett, the former appeal court judge in charge of the inquiry, “has the power” to decide what is relevant, making the Cabinet Office’s legal bid “a fool’s errand”.

“This is wasting time…this is not what the victims and those who are really affected by the events of Covid crisis will want to see,” he told LBC radio. Listen to more of Mr Buckland’s interview below:

[2 June 2023 07:29 · Matt Mathers]

Government likely to lose Covid inquiry legal challenge, says minister

The government will likely lose its legal challenge against the Covid inquiry, a minister has predicted.

Science minister George Freeman, appearing on BBC Question Time, insisted the decision to launch judicial review proceedings was not a “cynical waste of time” but admitted he thought the prospect of success unlikely.

Dominic McGrath reports:

[2 June 2023 07:20 · Matt Mathers]

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage.

We’ll be covering the ongoing row over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages to the Covid inquiry, the suspension of a Labour MP accused of sexual harassment and the latest round of train strikes.

Stay tuned for updates on these and other stories from Westminster and elsewhere.

[1 June 2023 23:10 · Jane Dalton]

Our live coverage of the row over handing Boris Johnson’s Covid files to the inquiry is on hold for now. We will bring you further updates as soon as possible.

[1 June 2023 22:59 · Jane Dalton]

Sunak challenge slated branded ‘hopeless’ and ‘insult to bereaved’

Labour former justice secretary Lord Falconer predicted the courts would reject the government’s “hopeless” challenge.

It was unarguably for the inquiry, not the Cabinet Office to decide the relevance of documents, he said.

Green MP Caroline Lucas said it was unforgivable of Mr Sunak to disrupt the inquiry this way, adding: “A huge insult to bereaved, NHS and care staff and us all.”