Rishi Sunak has been urged to hand over his own WhatsApp messages to the Covid inquiry so crucial pandemic decisions, including the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, can be scrutinised.
Bereaved families and opposition parties have accused the PM of trying to “protect himself” and “block the truth” by launching legal action to stop the release of Boris Johnson’s messages with him and dozens of other ministers.
The inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, has made clear she wants to probe the impact of Eat Out to Help Out – Mr Sunak’s move to discount dining and boost the restaurant trade after the first lockdown.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said Mr Sunak should hand over all his own WhatsApp messages related to pandemic policy – including the furlough scheme and “bounce back” loans for businesses – however embarrassing they may prove to be.
Rivka Gottlieb, a member of the group, told The Independent: “It looks like Sunak is protecting himself. It’s indecent to cover things up. I want every relevant person in government to be handing over WhatsApp messages.”
Ms Gottlieb, who lost her 73-year-old father in April 2020, added: “There is evidence of a spike in cases after the Eat Out to Help Out scheme – it was very unwise and irresponsible. We would like to see his discussions and his reasons for those decisions.”
Documents released by the Cabinet Office as part of a judicial review show Baroness Hallett is keen to know more about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, forming part of the 150 questions she has put to Mr Johnson.
Mr Sunak launched the scheme – which offered customers a 50 per cent discount on meals out, up to £10, for three days a week – in August 2020. The then chancellor said its “number one aim” was to help protect the jobs of hospitality workers.
However, research from Warwick University indicated that the scheme drove a “significant” increase in new Covid infections. Mr Sunak later insisted he was “proud” of the initiative and said he was “glad it did what it needed to do”.
Key questions which could be asked at the public inquiry about the scheme include:
- What discussions did Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson have on Eat Out to Help Out?
- Did the government consider the potential impact on the number of infections?
- Was any scientific advice on Eat Out to Help Out followed?
Lobby Akinnola, another member of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, accused the government of trying to “block the truth”, adding: “It’s not for Sunak or the government to decide what’s personal, or what’s embarrassing.”
But the campaigner, who lost his 60-year-old father during the first wave of Covid, said the focus should move on from Mr Johnson’s messages. “It’s not a Boris Johnson inquiry – we need to have a broader scope, including Rishi Sunak’s role,” he said.
Mr Akinnola added: “We saw a subsequent rise in Covid cases after the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. We should know how [Mr Sunak] treated any scientific evidence [during the Covid period], because we disagreed with Sunak’s premise [that] there was a decision to be made between supporting the economy or people’s health.”
It is not yet clear who exactly has been asked to hand over their WhatsApps to the inquiry. But a letter from the probe confirmed a request for WhatsApp material from 14 senior figures – including Liz Truss, Michael Gove, Kemi Badenoch and Dominic Raab – was still outstanding.
The cache of Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages leaked by journalist Isabel Oakeshott to The Telegraph revealed the then health secretary’s disdain for Mr Sunak’s discount dining scheme.
Mr Hancock dubbed the initiative “eat out to help the virus get about” – and suggested he had information it was driving up Covid cases in badly hit areas.
In a message to cabinet secretary Simon Case, he wrote: “Just want to let you know directly that we have had lots of feedback that Eat Out to Help Out is causing problems in our intervention [sic] areas. I’ve kept it out of the news but it’s serious.”
Mr Johnson raised the stakes in his own row with the Sunak government on Friday by handing his unredacted WhatsApp messages from May 2021 onward over directly to the Covid inquiry.
And he also proposed passing on all pre-May 2021 material from his old mobile phone directly to the probe once government officials assess the safety of the device he was forced to discard in April 2021 for security reasons.
Tories told The Independent they expected embarrassing rows between ministers to emerge if WhatsApps were finally shared. One former Tory minister said: “The messages will all be raked over – it’s what we do, we love pulling ourselves to bits.”
One senior Tory said the inquiry could still ultimately share “tittle-tattle between ministers”, even if the chair is focused on Covid-related business. “That’s not good for Boris,” they said on some of the possible disputes hinted at in Mr Hancock’s leaked messages.
Former justice secretary Robert Buckland said part of the inquiry could cover “economic discussions” and wants everything that is “potentially relevant” shared. “It’s regrettable we’ve got this turf war in the judicial review – it’s in everyone’s interests to be full and frank,” he added.
Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, told The Independent it was wrong for the government to try to decide what’s “irrelevant” to the Covid inquiry. “The big question is whether there are embarrassing messages involving senior ministers,” he said.
The former cabinet secretary added: “It’s turning into an internal wrangle within the Conservative Party. Boris may well see it as a way of creating a divide line between him and Sunak – it could work to his advantage if Sunak is seen to be the one blocking.”
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the government was trying to “prevent Sunak and his Conservative colleagues from having to release their messages”, adding: “They must take responsibility for their actions.”
The Independent has contacted the government for comment.
