Official documents will only be handed to the Covid Inquiry ‘where appropriate’, says minister amid stand-off over Boris Johnson’s diaries and messages from his time in No10
- Mr Sunak insists Government is acting ‘in a spirit of transparency and candour’
Documents will only be disclosed to the Covid-19 inquiry ‘where it is appropriate’, a Cabinet minister said today amid a stand-off with the head of the investigation.
As the dispute between the Cabinet Office and the inquiry over the release of Boris Johnson’s documents rumbled on, Mel Stride said the Government was prepared to be ‘absolutely robustly transparent’ where necessary.
The Cabinet Office has claimed it does not have access to Mr Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and private notebooks which were demanded by inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett and the Government has a wider objection to the release of ‘unambiguously irrelevant’ material.
The inquiry has set a deadline of 4pm on Thursday to hand over Mr Johnson’s messages, notebooks and official diaries, having granted a 48-hour extension on Tuesday.
Lady Hallett demanded a witness statement from a senior civil servant accompanied by a statement of truth confirming the documents are not held if the Cabinet Office fails to produce them by the new deadline.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Stride told Sky News: ‘I’m absolutely certain and confident that the Cabinet Office will be engaged in this in exactly the right kind of way, and in the kind of spirit that I’ve just outlined and making sure that we are absolutely robustly transparent where it is appropriate to be so.
‘I think that’s an important qualification, so that the inquiry has all the information that it is right for it to have.’
It came after Mr Johnson‘s allies last night said he had ‘no objection’ to disclosing material to the official Covid inquiry as the deadline for handing over unredacted messages was extended.
No 10 denied accusations of a cover-up, and said there is no requirement to ‘permanently store or record every WhatsApp’, with messages related to decision-making instead copied over to the official record. The spokesman said it is ‘down to individuals to decide what personal information they are able to hand over’.
As the dispute between the Cabinet Office and the inquiry over the release of Boris Johnson’s documents rumbled on, Mel Stride said the Government was prepared to be ‘absolutely robustly transparent’ where necessary.
Boris Johnson pictured leaving his house on March 22, as he fights demands to hand over records of his private conversations
An ally of the former PM alleged he had become a ‘distraction’ in the row and said the ‘WhatsApps the Government really doesn’t want disclosed are Sunak’s’ – a claim dismissed by No 10.
Sunak snubs Johnson’s call for talks
Rishi Sunak has snubbed Boris Johnson’s bid for a ‘clear-the-air’ meeting this week.
Initial discussions were held by No 10 and the former prime minister’s office about holding a telephone call – but it will now not go ahead.
The meeting had been billed by the former PM’s allies as an opportunity to discuss his honours list. Several Tory MPs are believed to have been put forward for peerages which, if confirmed, would force the Conservatives to fight risky by-elections at a time of dire opinion polling.
But it is understood that no meeting was confirmed before the reports surfaced and time could not be found in Mr Sunak’s busy diary.
It emerged last night that the Government has received legal advice to block the release of ‘politically sensitive’ material about the pandemic. Bloomberg reported that documents detailing discussions between senior ministers during the Covid crisis should not be disclosed ‘as a matter of course’ to avoid undermining the principle of collective responsibility.
Mr Sunak insisted yesterday the Government was acting ‘in a spirit of transparency and candour’. But Lady Hallett has demanded a witness statement from a senior civil servant, accompanied by a statement of truth confirming the documents are not held, if the Cabinet Office fails to produce them.
According to the notice seeking the unredacted messages, the inquiry is requesting conversations between Mr Johnson and a host of officials, including chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty, then-health secretary Matt Hancock, former top aide Dominic Cummings and then-chancellor Mr Sunak.
Last week, Lady Hallett rejected arguments the inquiry’s request was unlawful and claimed the Cabinet Office had ‘misunderstood the breadth of the investigation’.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said last night they are ‘fully committed to our obligations’ to the inquiry, adding: ‘However, we are firmly of the view the inquiry does not have the power to request unambiguously irrelevant information that is beyond the scope of this investigation. This includes the WhatsApp messages of Government employees which are not about work.’
Former head of the Civil Service Lord Kerslake told the BBC yesterday: ‘There’s some cover-up going on to save embarrassment of ministers, but there’s also the Cabinet Office fighting for a principle of confidentiality. I think they’re misguided on this situation. I actually think it would set a helpful precedent if Lady Hallett prevailed in this fight about the information.’
Will Covid inquiry give Tories an election lift?
The official Covid inquiry will hold its first hearings on the success of the vaccine rollout before the next general election – in a potential boost for the Government.
But public hearings about what went wrong in care homes will not be held until the spring of 2025 – long after the country has gone to the polls.
While the timetable is a matter for the inquiry, not ministers, it is likely to be helpful for the Conservative Government.
The vaccine rollout was widely considered a success – with ministers quick to sign contracts for millions of doses of vaccines.
But the decision in the early stages of the pandemic to discharge potentially infectious Covid patients from hospitals into care homes without prior testing has come under heavy criticism.
The inquiry is split into different investigations which will look at the country’s preparedness for and response to the pandemic.
The first hearings on preparedness and resilience will begin in a fortnight, while modules on core political and administrative decision making and the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems will be heard later this year and early next.
Inquiry chairman Baroness Hallett announced yesterday that she aims to conclude public hearings by summer 2026.
‘Last year, I promised I would work hard to ensure the UK can learn useful lessons from the pandemic as quickly as possible,’ she said. ‘Today, I am providing greater clarity on our investigations.’
The next general election could take place at any point until January 2025, but is widely expected to be held in the autumn of next year.
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