Johnson Applies Pressure to the Cabinet Office
Earlier this week in a post for subscribers I wrote about how the fate of the COVID Inquiry hangs in the balance.
At the heart of the dispute are WhatsApp messages and diaries from Boris Johnson's time in Number 10. While the Inquiry has requested full, unredacted copies, the Cabinet Office has so far pushed back and insisted that they should be able to remove material that is “unambiguously irrelevant” (a legal test that government lawyers appear to have conjured up from thin air).
At the time of writing, this dispute is still heading towards a battle in the courts. The chair of the Inquiry, Baroness Hallett, had granted the Cabinet Office an extension to hand over the documents. That expires at 4pm today.
If the government does not comply then beyond that point is unknown territory.
The Inquiries Act 2005 is a powerful legal instrument and Hallett has not shied away from using every means at her disposal. The request to the Cabinet Office was made under section 21 of the Act and this carries with it the threat of possible criminal sanctions for non-compliance.
More likely is a civil case but either way that specious legal test may yet be put before a judge.
Whether things actually get that far remains to be seen. As the deadline approaches, more and more pressure is being put on the Cabinet Office to comply with the full demands of the Inquiry.
It began with backbench Tory MPs who swiftly realised that facing the official COVID Inquiry in a court of law would be a public relations disaster that makes it look like the party has something to hide.
Now pressure is coming from Boris Johnson himself. He has revealed that his unredacted WhatsApp messages and notes have been passed to the Cabinet Office and are free to pass onto the Inquiry. Furthermore he has said that if the Cabinet Office does not comply then he would be prepared to hand over the materials himself.
This could have the effect of forcing the hand of the Cabinet Office but we are still some way from checkmate.
Government diaries are still at stake. Johnson does not have the power to hand these over and the Cabinet Office has security concerns about doing so.
The dispute may yet end up before the courts but it is becoming much harder by the minute for the Cabinet Office to refuse the COVID Inquiry's calls for openness.