Boris Johnson accuses government of 'frustrating' WhatsApp Covid inquiry

The former prime minister has blasted the government for waging a legal battle - and preventing him, he claims, from handing over his documents not redacted at investigation

The former Prime Minister said he wanted to publish his unredacted messages and notebooks (

Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Boris Johnson has launched a blistering attack on the Cabinet Office for refusing to give his WhatsApp messages to the Covid inquiry.

The ex-Prime Minister has waged war on the government department by accusing officials of 'frustrating' the inquiry led by Baroness Heather Hallett.

In his first intervention since dramatically resigning as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip on Friday, the shamed former prime minister fired a broadside at Whitehall in his ongoing clash with the peer over the WhatsApp texts sent and received by key ministers and officials at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said he warned him against giving his messages to the Inquiry - and ordered him not to divulge his diaries.

This comes after the government launched a judicial review on Baroness Hallett's instructions that unredacted material should be handed over to her inquiry.

“The Cabinet Office prevented me from directly sharing unredacted documents with the inquiry despite my repeated attempts to do so,” Mr Johnson told The Times.

"The government wants the whole matter to be decided by the courts, even though government ministers have publicly stated that litigation is pointless as the government will not win.

Baroness Heather Hallett chairs the Covid inquiry (

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"The Cabinet Office's laborious approach to the investigation is costing the public time and money.

"The work of the Inquiry is crucial.

"We need to explore what happened during Covid...and the government's position now is, in my view, frustrating for the work of the investigation."

Baroness Hallett is due to hold her first public hearing tomorrow.

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His investigation has been split into three modules and is due to report in 2026 - although many fear it will take much longer.

The dispute over what material she should see has hampered the start of the investigation.

Judges must decide whether the government can redact the messages, but insiders say...