A top civil servant nicknamed ‘Party Marty’ who organized a rule-breaking bash set his WhatsApp messages to ‘disappear’ – but doesn’t remember why.
Today, Martin Reynolds was questioned about why he turned on the feature in a governmental WhatsApp group – called ‘PM Updates’ – in April 2021.
When quizzed on why, Reynolds suggested he had used it due to ‘concerns about potential leaks’, the Covid inquiry heard.
He said: ‘It could, for example, have been because I was worried of someone screenshotting or using some of the exchanges and leaking them.’
Appearing before the inquiry today, Reynolds also suggested Johnson may have not realised his WhatsApp messages would enter the public domain.
In messages between Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Reynolds in December 2021, 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.’
Reynolds responded: ‘Agreed – thanks for your help.’
Reynolds was asked by the inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith what the ‘battle’ referenced in the messages referred to.
He replied: ‘I cannot recall, but I imagine that the prime minister – I’m afraid I can only speculate – but I imagine he hadn’t realised that all of his WhatApps would become public via the COVID inquiry.’
Reynolds previously made headlines after it was revealed he arranged a gathering in Downing Street’s garden in May 2020 – when leaving home without a reasonable excuse was banned.
He was subsequently nicknamed ‘Party Marty’ after details of the gathering emerged, and was later forced out during the partygate scandal.
Reynolds also rejected a suggestion that that he personally had been ‘too deferential’ to Johnson, but appeared to acknowledge that there could have been better preparation for the spread of the virus.
‘With the benefit of hindsight, it does appear that we should have been far more vigorously looking and testing out arrangements for what was coming, and that would arguably have made a big difference when the crisis hit,’ he said.
The inquiry previously said it will ‘pay particular scrutiny’ to the decisions taken by the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, and his cabinet.
Former staffers for Johnson blasted the government’s leadership during the pandemic, with the chief scientific adviser calling the former PM ‘weak and indecisive’.
Case said in one WhatsApp: ‘He cannot lead and we cannot support him in leading with this approach.’
In another message, Case blasted the former PM, saying: ‘IT HAS TO STOP! Decide and set direction – deliver – explain. Government isn’t actually that hard, but this guy [Johnson] is making it impossible.’
A key piece of evidence is likely to include the WhatsApp messages of Johnson.
The ongoing inquiry is investigating the government’s decision to enforce social distancing rules between January 2020 and February 2022.
The inquiry, led by Baroness Heather Hallett, is also examining the decisions behind the tier system, working from home, mask wearing advice and border controls.
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