The UK government faces accusations of attempting a “cover-up” because it seeks to stop the COVID inquiry from accessing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks. Bereaved households and opposition parties have expressed their disapproval after the Cabinet Office announced its intention to deliver a judicial evaluation of Baroness Hallett’s order to release the paperwork. This move comes regardless of Johnson beforehand stating his willingness to adjust to the inquiry chairwoman’s request and submit the fabric directly.
The Cabinet Office was set to provide the knowledge by 4pm on Thursday but revealed, “with remorse,” that it might be bringing the judicial evaluation challenge. The Office emphasised its dedication to full cooperation with the inquiry earlier than, throughout, and after the jurisdictional problem is resolved by the courts.
Broudie Jackson Canter, the authorized practice representing the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, described the government’s motion as demonstrating “utter disregard for the inquiry.” Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, accused Johnson of constructing “a desperate try and withhold proof,” including that the common public deserves solutions, not another cover-up. Daisy Cooper, deputy chief of the Liberal Democrats, called the government’s judicial review a “kick in the teeth” for the families who’ve lost family members to COVID during the pandemic.
The Cabinet Office claims that the paperwork and messages requested by the inquiry are “unambiguously irrelevant” and unrelated to the government’s dealing with of COVID. Legal proceedings have revealed that the WhatsApp messages provided by Johnson to the Cabinet Office only date again to May 2021, over a 12 months after the pandemic began. Instantly needed to change his cell in 2021 when it was discovered that his number had been publicly available for 15 years.
The inquiry despatched one hundred fifty questions to Johnson in February, including asking whether or not he acknowledged that he would rather “let the our bodies pile high” than order one other lockdown in autumn 2020. Additionally, the inquiry questioned if Johnson received advice from the then Cabinet Secretary to take away Matt Hancock MP, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, from his position between January and July 2020..