Boris Johnson offers unredacted WhatsApp messages to UK Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson, who was the British prime minister during the height of COVID, on Friday offered to hand over all his unredacted WhatsApp messages to the public inquiry set up to investigate the government’s handling of the pandemic.

The latest move further complicates matters as it bypasses the Rishi Sunak-led government’s decision to seek a judicial review into inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett’s order for all such messages to be handed over.

After missing a deadline on Thursday for the handover of the documents which include Johnson’s messages, the UK Cabinet Office said in a statement that government officials should not be required to provide material that is irrelevant.