Context

The UK Covid-19 inquiry requested full and unredacted access to the WhatsApp conversations and notebooks kept by Boris Johnson during the pandemic in order to see how the government made decisions during this period.  

Boris Johnson announced the Covid-19 inquiry on 12 May 2021.

Facts

A spokesperson for Boris Johnson claimed that “All Boris Johnson’s material” has been handed-over to the Cabinet Office “in full and in unredacted form.”

The next day, on 1 June, a letter was released by the Covid inquiry saying that they had only received material dating from May 2021 onwards. The Inquiry noted that the material handed over “does not cover the whole of the specified time period, but only the period from May 2021 when the former Prime Minister acquired a new phone.”

Verdict

No statement by Boris Johnson possesses credibility. 

We sent a letter to Johnson’s personal and office address offering him the chance to respond. The letter was received (and signed for) by both, but no reply.