A key aide to Boris Johnson during the pandemic told the Covid-19 inquiry he used ‘disappearing’ WhatsApp messages in a group of senior officials because he ‘may’ have been worried about information being leaked.
Martin Reynolds, who headed the private office of the Prime Minister during the pandemic, said he could not remember exactly why he turned the feature on - but that it could have been because he was worried about stories being leaked to the press.He insisted it was not an attempt to hide information from the inquiry.“I don’t believe it was intended to prevent the inquiry from having sight of ,” he said.
In correspondence shared with the inquiry from December 2021, Mr Case said: "PM is mad if he doesn't think his WhatsApps will become public via Covid inquiry - but he was clearly not in the mood for that discussion tonight! We'll have that battle in the new year".Mr Reynolds responded: "Agreed - thanks for your help.
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