Boris Johnson says he has handed over Covid WhatsAppson May 31, 2023 at 4:14 pm

Boris Johnson claims he has given his WhatsApp messages and notebooks in full to the government to give to the Covid inquiry.

The inquiry has demanded that the Cabinet Office hand over the unredacted material by 4pm on Thursday.

A spokesman for the former PM said he urged the Cabinet Office to “urgently disclose it to the inquiry”.

But the Cabinet Office has argued some of the material is not relevant to the inquiry’s work.

Mr Johnson’s spokesman said the Cabinet Office had had “access to this material for several months” and he would disclose it directly to the inquiry if asked.

“While Mr Johnson understands the government’s position, and does not seek to contradict it, he is perfectly happy for the inquiry to have access to this material in whatever form it requires,” he added.

Mr Johnson is among those who will give evidence to the inquiry, which is due to start hearings in two weeks.

The material includes 24 notebooks with contemporaneous notes, as well as his diaries and WhatsApp messages between Mr Johnson and cabinet ministers, advisors and senior civil servants.

On Tuesday, the inquiry revealed it had been told the Cabinet Office did not currently have the WhatsApp messages or notebooks in its possession.

If the department still does not have the material by Thursday, the inquiry said it must instead provide its correspondence with Mr Johnson over the issue.

The Cabinet Office has been speaking to Mr Johnson about the issue, including on Wednesday.

The BBC has asked the department whether it now has the relevant information it previously said was not in its possession.

The government has argued the inquiry does not have the power to request “unambiguously relevant information”, such as personal messages.

However, the inquiry’s chairwoman, crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, said it was her role, not that of the government, to decide what was relevant.

It could lead to a legal battle between the government and inquiry, with the courts deciding what material is made available.

The BBC has been told the Cabinet Office legal team visited Mr Johnson’s office to inspect the notebooks.

Mr Johnson has since stopped cooperating with his government-appointed lawyers and is appointing his own.

Opposition parties and campaign groups representing bereaved families have called for the material to be released to the inquiry in full.