The Cabinet Office has lost its legal bid to stop the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from releasing Boris Johnson's unredacted WhatsApp messages, notebooks and diaries. Baroness Heather Hallett ordered the release of the documents in her role as the inquiry's chairwoman.
But the Cabinet Office argued that the documents were "unambiguously irrelevant" and it should not have to hand them over. In a ruling on Thursday, Lord Justice Dingemans and Mr Justice Garnham dismissed the claim for judicial review, but said the Cabinet Office could make a different application to Lady Hallett.
Lawyers for the government department argued last month that the inquiry does not have the legal power to force minister to release documents and messages that cover matters “unconnected to the Government’s handling of Covid”. Hugo Keith KC, for the inquiry chairwoman, said that allowing the Cabinet Office to decide what was relevant would "emasculate this and future inquiries”.
Lord David Pannick KC, acting on behalf of Boris Johnson, argued that there was a danger that the public's confidence would be undermined if the Cabinet Office won its challenge.
The Government took the highly unusual step of launching the challenge in June, in a move which attracted criticism after days of public wrangling between the Cabinet Office and Lady Hallett’s probe.
The former prime minister handed over his unredacted WhatsApp messages, diaries and 24 notebooks to the Cabinet Office in late May.Mr Johnson himself backed Lady Hallett, who rejected the argument that the material was irrelevant in a May ruling, in opposing the legal challenge over the request.
