As deadline approaches to hand over unredacted messages between Boris Johnson and his ministers, government could take legal action
Ministers have just days to decide whether to take the extraordinary step of launching legal action against the Covid inquiry, as part of their battle to keep secret a slew of sensitive messages from senior figures includingWith just 48 hours remaining before the deadline to hand over unredacted messages and notes between Johnson and his ministers, theunderstands the government is this weekend standing firm in its refusal to divulge the material.
The battle is regarded as hugely important in shaping the inquiry, with the first public hearings just over two weeks away. It is set to see prominent Tories from across the last 13 years of government – including David Cameron and George Osborne – interrogated about the steps they took to prepare for a pandemic and the impact of austerity on the NHS’s resilience. Lawyers for the inquiry have revealed they have cast their net “widely and with a fine mesh”.
“Seeing that Heather Hallett is cleared to a very high level of security, why should it matter that she sees the entirety of [the material]? She will decide what is relevant.” Correspondence involving more than 40 of the most senior figures in Johnson’s government is covered by Hallett’s ruling. It includes WhatsApp messages, diaries and notebooks from Johnson, but also communications from former No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings, Liz Truss, Dominic Raab, who was deputy PM at the time, Matt Hancock, the then health secretary, and the cabinet secretary, Simon Case.
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