The government refuses to provide documents for an inquiry into the management of the epidemic

No problem, thanks. The British government on Thursday refused to provide documents requested as part of a public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic, saying it intended to take legal action to establish whether the inquiry’s demands were justified.

Former magistrate Heather Hallett, who is leading the public inquiry into the pandemic, has given the Cabinet Office, Government Services, until Thursday afternoon to provide all the elements she needs.

The Cabinet Office refused to comply and said on Thursday, an hour after the deadline, that it had “requested leave to commence a judicial review”.

Johnson’s WhatsApp exchanges were targeted

The government says it wants to ensure that investigators have “authority to request documents and messages that are not suspicious of the work (under) investigation, including personal communications and questions unrelated to the government’s handling of Covid.”

Those in charge of the public inquiry specifically want to conduct Whatsapp exchanges between Boris Johnson and several other political and health officials.

Boris Johnson – who was forced to resign in the summer of 2022 after a series of scandals orchestrated behind closed doors, including across parties – announced on Wednesday that he had handed over the files he had requested to the government to send to investigators.

However, the government feels that requiring such documents raises “important questions of doctrine” and affects “the good conduct of government”. “Current and former individuals, civil servants, ministers and ministries are not required to provide information unrelated to investigative work,” the government said. “It represents an unwarranted intrusion into other aspects of government work” and an invasion of “privacy.”

Boris Johnson is ready to deliver the news directly

For his part, Boris Johnson has promised to be prepared to provide direct information about him within the framework of a public inquiry.

“I see no reason why investigators cannot investigate the content of my own (transactions) Whatsapp and notes,” he wrote in a letter to Hallett on Thursday. “

The shadow of “Particate” Boris Johnson has hit back at Boris Johnson after the Cabinet Office reported new elements to the police about potential breaches of rules enacted to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak. The former prime minister called the allegations “absolutely ridiculous” and said he had been cooperating “fully” with investigators from the beginning.

20 minutes with AFP