Allies of Boris Johnson have challenged the UK government after it reportedly told the Covid-19 inquiry it could not hand over the former prime minister’s WhatsApp messages and notebooks because it did not have them.
The public inquiry announced on Tuesday it had granted a 48-hour extension from 4pm on Tuesday to its deadline for the government to respond to its demand for Johnson’s unredacted messages, notes and diaries.
The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, said it had rejected the Cabinet Office’s request for more time and also revealed the department had told it that the government did not have Johnson’s WhatsApp messages or notebooks.
The announcement followed a stand-off between ministers and the inquiry over whether the requested documentation should be supplied unredacted, amid concerns in Whitehall about the precedent such a move could set.
Downing Street on Tuesday repeated its assertion that material that was “unambiguously irrelevant” to the…