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Issue 150
“Chair Decides What is Relevant” Government Told, as Covid Inquiry Row Deepens
Following the government's decision to launch a legal challenge over the Covid inquiry’s demand for WhatsApp messages and documents, the chair of the inquiry, Baroness Hallett has responded to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, insisting that only she has the power to “decide what is relevant.” Baroness Hallett responded for the first time to the government’s recent High Court challenge against her demand for the former Prime Ministers unredacted messages and notebook, saying that she believes “it is for the inquiry chair to decide what is relevant or potentially relevant”. The government challenged the demand to release WhatsApp messages and
documents citing that the documents and messages being sought by the inquiry are “unambiguously irrelevant” and cover matters “unconnected to the government’s handling of COVID”. It is believed to be the first time a government has taken legal action against its own public inquiry. However, Mr Johnson has since bypassed Mr Sunak and handed over some of the unredacted WhatsApp messages to Lady Hallett’s team.
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