Covid inquiry gives ministers two more days to submit Boris Johnson messages

Ministers have another two days to hand over material from Boris Johnson to the Covid inquiry, which demanded proof that officials did not hold any WhatsApp messages or notebooks from the former prime minister.

The inquiry, chaired by Heather Hallett, said the Cabinet Office had until 4pm on Thursday 1 June to hand over the trove of documents and messages.

The government claimed not to have copies of WhatApp messages or notebooks from Johnson, said the inquiry, which asked for a witness statement from a senior civil servant verifying this to be the case, along with a record of searches conducted.

The inquiry previously issued rulings requiring notebooks, diaries and messages between Johnson and 40 other senior government figures. It also requested copies of messages on devices held by his adviser, Henry Cook, and the same list of figures.

However, the Cabinet Office has been considering whether to contest the request in the courts, arguing that the inquiry does not have the power to demand this unredacted material.

Lady Hallett has demanded the full cache of messages and diaries be handed over to the inquiry two weeks before the first public evidence sessions. But lawyers for the Cabinet Office are said to have advised that the inquiry does not have the powers to request access to all documents, raising the prospect of legal arbitration and a potential judicial review.

Launching a legal challenge against the ruling by the head of a public inquiry would be unprecedented, sources said.

Government insiders have said handing over Johnson’s unredacted diaries and WhatsApp messages from the former prime minister and Cook would be an affront to their privacy and the right to private policy discussion.

A new notice from the inquiry said on Tuesday: “The inquiry was informed that the Cabinet Office does not have in its possession either Mr Johnson’s WhatsApp messages or Mr Johnson’s notebooks, as sought in the original section 21 notice.

“The notice has been varied so that if the Cabinet Office maintains its position that it does not hold specified materials, it must provide in substitute a witness statement from a senior civil servant, verified by a statement of truth.”

This statement must specify that the Cabinet Office does not have in its custody or under its control the specified WhatsApp materials, or any copies thereof, and a record of searches that have been made, as well as a chronology of correspondence with Johnson or his office, regarding the identification of potentially relevant WhatsApp materials held by him.

The inquiry is also asking to know whether the Cabinet Office has had in its possession or under its control any of the requested materials and whether the potentially relevant messages held by Johnson are on a personal device or a Cabinet Office/No 10 one.