UK government loses legal bid to keep Boris Johnson's messages from COVID-19 inquiry

Boris Johnson, who was prime minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, agreed in late 2021 to hold an inquiry into how the government handled the spread of the virus. (Reuters)

A UK court on Thursday rejected the British government's request to keep former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries from being made public at an official COVID-19 inquiry.

The Cabinet Office took the unusual step of bringing a legal challenge after the retired judge chairing the inquiry into Britain's handling of the coronavirus pandemic ordered the Conservative government to release full copies of Johnson's documents.

Government officials argued the inquiry did not have the legal power to force them to release documents and messages that they said were 'unambiguously irrelevant' to how the government handled COVID-19.

But lawyers for the inquiry said the idea that civil servants could decide what material was relevant would undermine public confidence in the process.

The judges who ruled in the Cabinet Office's case said Johnson's diaries and notebooks were 'very likely to contain information about decision-making' relating to the pandemic.

A spokesperson said the government would comply fully with the ruling and work with the inquiry to ensure the privacy of involved individuals is protected.

Johnson, who was prime minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, agreed in late 2021 to hold an inquiry into how the government handled the spread of the virus.

Johnson handed over some of his unredacted notebooks along with diaries and WhatsApp messages to the inquiry in late May.

COVID-19 was recorded as a cause of death for almost 227,000 people in the UK, one of the highest pandemic death tolls in Europe. The bereaved families of some of the people who died pressured the government to authorize an inquiry.

Heather Hallett, the retired judge leading the investigation, has the power to summon witnesses, including senior politicians, to testify under oath at public hearings.

The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said it was a 'disgrace' that the Cabinet Office tried to obstruct the work of the inquiry.

"This judicial review was a desperate waste of time and money. The inquiry needs to get to the facts if the country is to learn lessons that will save lives in the future," the group's spokesperson, Deborah Doyle, said.