Covid inquiry: Boris Johnson hands over WhatsApps and notes to Cabinet Office

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Boris Johnson has handed over a tranche of WhatsApps and notebooks to the Cabinet Office, challenging it to release the documents in unredacted form to the Covid inquiry.

In a move that will pose a major headache for the government, Johnson released a new statement saying it should “urgently disclose” the contents to the public inquiry.

The deadline for the Cabinet Office to supply the documents to the Covid inquiry is less than 24 hours away – and the government had sought to get around complying by arguing it no longer had the information.

The move means the Cabinet Office will now have to choose whether to continue fighting the Covid inquiry over its evidence demands, raising the risk of a formal legal challenge.

Johnson’s statement said he was “perfectly happy for the inquiry to have access to this material in whatever form it requires”, adding he had cooperated “in full from the beginning of this process”.