![]() It came despite being estimated to cost tens of thousands of pounds and a government minister publicly admitting the Cabinet Office was likely to lose. It was highly unusual for the Government to launch a costly judicial review of the inquiry chairwoman’s decision not to release the material. Lawyers for the Cabinet Office had attempted to argue the inquiry does not have the legal power to force it to release documents which are "unambiguously irrelevant" and cover matters "unconnected to the Government's handling of Covid".īut top judges said today it has decided to "dismiss the claim for judicial review" as it said: We "find that the Chair of the Inquiry acted rationally in issuing the section 21(2)(b) notice and making the ruling".Ī Government spokesman said: "We will comply fully with this judgment and will now work with the Inquiry team on the practical arrangements." The judgement will mean inquiry officials will have access to message exchanges between Mr Johnson and former and current ministers, including Mr Sunak and ex-PM Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak has suffered a major blow as the High Court ordered the Government to release Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks to the Covid Inquiry.Ĭausing another headache for the embattled PM, judges said there were no grounds to block inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett's order to hand over the material.
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