I decide what's relevant, says Covid inquiry chairman in row Boris WhatsApp

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Head of Covid inquiry has hit back at Rishi Sunak's government over its decision to take legal action to block full access to Boris' WhatsApp messages Johnson - insisting that she alone has the power to decide what is relevant.

Baroness Hallett, chair of the inquiry, responded to the government's challenge for the first time by the High Court against her request for unredacted messages and notebooks from the former prime minister.

< p>Refusing to step back in the extraordinary row, the unqualified colleague said she believed 'he belongs to the president of the inquiry to decide what is relevant or potentially relevant."

The transparency argument widened on Tuesday, as the inquiry found that WhatsApp messages from senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also been redacted. It also emerged that security experts will be asked to turn on Mr Johnson's old phone so that a search for 2020 material can be carried out.

The Sunak government announced last week that he was taking his own Covid investigation to court to avoid having to divulge material he considers 'unambiguously irrelevant'. The decision prompted accusations of "cowardly concealment". One of Mr Sunak's own ministers admitted the judicial review was in danger of failing.

In another layer of chaos, Mr Johnson bypassed Mr Sunak and handed over some of the unredacted WhatsApp messages to Lady Hallett's team.

"As this has been widely reported in the media, a problem has arisen between the inquiry and the Cabinet Office as to who decides what is relevant or potentially relevant," Lady Hallett told a hearing on Tuesday.

< p>She continued: "I have issued a notice under Section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005 - making it clear that in my view it is for the Chairman of the Inquiry to decide what is relevant or potentially relevant."

On the Cabinet Office's request to withdraw the claim for the Johnson material, Lady Hallett said: "I refused, and they are now challenging my decision to refuse to withdraw the notice in the High Court, by way of judicial review."

Hugo Keith KC - the inquest solicitor - has revealed that Lady Hallett's team will soon begin inspecting the messages 'Unredacted' WhatsApp messages received directly from Mr Johnson to compare with government-provided content.

The lawyer said the investigation team is "seeking...