Cabinet Office refuses to release Boris Johnson’s notebooks over security concerns

A collection of 25 notebooks from Boris Johnson’s time in office is being withheld by the government after a security services review found they contained highly sensitive material.

It comes after officials advised that only those with the highest level of security clearance should be able to see the sensitive passages, according to the Times.

If the notebooks are returned to the former prime minister they must be “appropriately stored” in a secure location, the newspaper reported.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told the Guardian: “We don’t comment on security matters.” No 10 declined to comment.

Johnson’s notebooks – expected to contribute to his political memoirs – play a key role in a legal battle between the government and the Covid public inquiry, which will see a judicial review on 30 June.

Baroness Hallett, the inquiry’s chair, has asked for access to Johnson’s unredacted notebooks and WhatsApp messages. But the Cabinet Office has refused, agreeing only to supply redacted copies.

“The government has told Boris Johnson that it is in the process of returning the notebooks to him so they cannot be very concerned about their contents,” a spokesperson for Johnson told the Times.

“The Cabinet Office has had access to this material for months [and] repeatedly advised it was acceptable for Boris to keep these notebooks, including when they visited his office to inspect them … there are no government documents in these books or any national security material taken away from No 10.”

Johnson’s office has been approached for comment.

A vote on the Commons privileges committee report, which found that Johnson deliberately misled parliament and was part of a campaign to intimidate MPs investigating him, is due to take place on Monday.

Johnson previously lashed out at the committee, claiming it was a “kangaroo court” and rejecting its findings. But he has since told allies in parliament not to oppose a motion in the House of Commons endorsing the committee’s findings, telling them there was no point because it would have no practical consequences.

He is now said to be focusing on his life outside parliament. On Saturday the Daily Mail published the first of his new column for the newspaper, in which he talked about his decision to take a weight loss drug while he was a cabinet minister. The move, he said, was an attempt to counteract “40 years of moral failure, 40 years of weakness in the face of temptation”.

However, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments said Johnson had committed a “clear breach” of rules on former ministers’ new jobs after informing an appointments body just half an hour before the announcement was public.

A Johnson spokesperson told the Times he was “in touch” with the committee and that “the normal process is being followed” on his column.