Britain’s COVID inquiry wants ministers to swear they don’t have Boris Johnson’s WhatsApps

LONDON — British politics is having another normal one.

The U.K’s official inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic wants a top government department to prove it doesn’t possess Boris Johnson’s notebooks or WhatsApp messages, amid a bitter row over the disclosure of the ex-PM’s material.

The public inquiry’s chair, Heather Hallett, has been embroiled in a dispute with the Cabinet Office even before the probe’s formal hearings have begun.

Hallett has requested un-redacted information about Johnson’s handling of the pandemic, but the Cabinet Office argues much of what it’s being asked to hand over is “unambiguously irrelevant to the Inquiry’s work.”

A fresh twist came Tuesday when the inquiry said it had been informed by the Cabinet Office that it does not possess either Johnson’s messages or his notebooks. Hallett wants proof.

In a notice on the inquiry website, Hallett said that if the Cabinet Office is sticking to that story, it must provide “in substitute a witness statement from a senior civil servant,” proving it does not “have in its custody or under its control” the specified materials.

The statement from the senior civil servant should also include a “chronology of correspondence with Mr. Johnson, or his office, regarding the identification of potentially relevant WhatsApp materials held by him.”

Johnson’s notebooks have already landed him in hot water.

The former prime minister was referred to police — for the second time — when his own legal team reportedly raised concerns that he may have breached COVID lockdown rules. The Times reported that his ministerial diary revealed visits by friends to his Chequers country retreat during the pandemic, when strict pandemic rules were in place. Johnson has called the claims “absolute nonsense” and said his diary entries are “completely innocent.”

He has subsequently severed ties with his government-appointed lawyers due to represent him in the inquiry.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said: “Johnson has no objection to disclosing material to the inquiry. He has done so and will continue to do so.

“The decision to challenge the inquiry’s position on redactions is for the Cabinet Office,” they added.