The Cabinet Office will have to hand over former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages, notebooks, and diaries to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, the High Court has ruled.
Baroness Heather Hallett, chairwoman of the UK’s official COVID-19 inquiry, told the government in April to hand over the former prime minister’s unredacted messages and notes.
But the Cabinet Office sought a judicial review of the order, arguing it should not have to hand over material that is “unambiguously irrelevant.”
In a judgment on Thursday, Lord Justice Dingemans and Justice Garnham dismissed the department’s legal bid, finding that the fact an order for material would produce “some irrelevant documents” did not “invalidate” it or mean it “cannot be lawfully exercised.”
Following the ruling, the government said it “will comply fully with this judgment and will now work with the inquiry team on the practical arrangements.”
Court Ruling
At a hearing last month, lawyers for the Cabinet Office argued the inquiry does not have the legal power to force ministers to release documents and messages it says cover matters “unconnected to the government’s handling of COVID.”But Hugo Keith KC, representing the inquiry chairwoman, said the idea that the Cabinet Office could decide which aspects were relevant “would emasculate this and future inquiries.”
Mr. Johnson, having handed over his unredacted WhatsApp messages, diaries, and 24 notebooks to the Cabinet Office in late May, also backed Ms. Hallett’s request.
Lord David Pannick KC, on behalf of the former prime minister, argued there is a “real danger” of undermining public confidence in the process if the department wins its bid.
In their ruling, Lord Justice Dingemans and Justice Garnham said that Ms. Hallett had issued her order requesting documents that “relate to a matter in question at the inquiry.”
They continued: “The diaries and notebooks sought were very likely to contain information about decision making relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore ‘relate to a matter in question at the inquiry.’”
‘Sensible Resolution’
The spokesperson of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry said: “Baroness Hallett is pleased the court has upheld her Section 21 notice.“Following the court’s judgment, the inquiry has varied its order to require the disclosure of materials by 4 p.m. on Monday July 10.”
A government spokesperson said: “The court’s judgment is a sensible resolution and will mean that the inquiry chair is able to see the information she may deem relevant, but we can work together to have an arrangement that respects the privacy of individuals and ensures completely irrelevant information is returned and not retained.”
Thursday’s judgment was welcomed by COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice.
Deborah Doyle, spokesperson for the group, said: “This judicial review was a desperate waste of time and money. The inquiry needs to get to the facts if the country is to learn lessons that will save lives in the future.
“That means it needs to be able to access all of the evidence, not just what the Cabinet Office wants it to see,” the spokesperson said.
Opposition parties branded the High Court judgment a “humiliating defeat” for the government.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of “wasting time and taxpayers’ money on doomed legal battles” while Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Christine Jardine claimed the prime minister had wasted public money to “hide the truth.”
