Cabinet Office cautious of Boris Johnson handing unredacted Covid particulars to inquiry
B
oris Johnson’s notebooks may very well be withheld from the previous prime minister to cease him from handing over unredacted paperwork to the Covid inquiry, Government attorneys have appeared to counsel.
Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett had given the Government till Friday to set out its place on whether or not it will submit the pandemic chief’s WhatsApp messages, notebooks and diaries uncensored to her investigation.
Ministers are difficult her request for the supplies within the courts however attorneys for the probe have advised Mr Johnson’s co-operation with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, which he arrange when in Downing Street, meant it was prone to see the unredacted paperwork earlier than a judicial assessment is heard on the finish of the month.
But in a letter to the inquiry on Friday, a Government lawyer mentioned it will “not be appropriate” to take steps that had been “not consistent with the very position that it has raised in the judicial review”.
The Cabinet Office has mentioned a number of the info requested by Lady Hallett, a retired senior decide, doesn’t relate to the Government’s dealing with of coronavirus and is “unambiguously irrelevant”.
Keith Hugo KC, counsel for the inquiry, mentioned at a preliminary listening to on Tuesday {that a} request had been made for Mr Johnson’s pandemic notebooks to be returned to him by Monday June 12 with a view for them to be inspected by the investigation group.
But Parm Sahota, writing on behalf of the Treasury solicitor, mentioned Mr Johnson — who dramatically resigned as an MP on Friday — took a “different position” to the Government and that it didn’t help handing over unredacted paperwork to the inquiry.
It raises the likelihood that the Cabinet Office may select to carry onto Mr Johnson’s notebooks till the High Court problem has concluded and probably for longer if judges resolve in ministers’ favour.
“We are aware of Mr Johnson’s public comments on sharing information with the inquiry and, for his own reasons, he takes a different position to that of the Cabinet Office,” the lawyer mentioned.
“However, we consider that it is not appropriate for the Government to have to take steps that are not consistent with the very position that it has raised in the judicial review – and that would be the position were the Cabinet Office to provide unambiguously irrelevant material to Mr Johnson in the knowledge that he intended simply to provide it, without protection, on to the inquiry.”
Mr Sahota added: “In relation to the diaries, I can confirm that these documents are Cabinet Office documents produced to record the engagements of the prime minister.
“The diaries are not Mr Johnson’s personal diaries.”
The letter was printed by the Cabinet Office solely hours earlier than Mr Johnson introduced that he was quitting as an MP following what he known as a “witch hunt” inquiry by the Commons Privileges Committee into whether or not he misled the Commons over lockdown-busting events held in No 10 through the pandemic.
The Government Legal Department mentioned neither the WhatsApp messages on Mr Johnson’s present or his previous telephone, which was locked for safety causes, can be despatched unredacted to Lady Hallett’s group.
Messages referring to the ordering of three coronavirus lockdowns in 2020 are probably on a telephone Mr Johnson stopped utilizing in May 2021 after it emerged his cell quantity had been out there on-line for 15 years.
Mr Sahota mentioned the Cabinet Office “continues to work with security partners and Mr Johnson’s representatives” to evaluate the safety points on the machine with a view to “retrieving the appropriate material”.
But he mentioned, even when the division does acquire entry to the messages, the unredacted contents wouldn’t be handed on, pending the results of the judicial assessment.
The senior solicitor mentioned ministers did “not consider that the inquiry’s work is likely to be materially disrupted by our position as set out above”.
He famous that redacted copies of Mr Johnson’s notebooks, diaries and WhatsApp messages from Mr Johnson’s “new” telephone had been submitted as proof.
Lady Hallett is because of hear proof from witnesses for the primary time subsequent week, with public hearings happening in central London from Tuesday.
Six weeks of hearings are deliberate for the primary module of the inquiry, which can give attention to resilience and preparedness.
The second module, with proof scheduled to be given within the autumn, will look into Government determination making through the pandemic, with Mr Johnson’s proof prone to be closely relied upon.