COVID inquiry: Rishi Sunak accused of being ‘slippery’ over order to hand over Boris Johnson WhatsApp messages

Published

12 months ago

May 30, 2023

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Rishi Sunak has been accused of being “slippery” in the row over whether the government will hand over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and other documents to the COVID inquiry.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said the prime minister should “comply with the inquiry and do it today”.

Mr Streeting told broadcasters: “I think the prime minister looks really slippery today. He says he wants the government to co-operate with the inquiry but the government has been withholding information the inquiry has asked for.

“One minute the government says the messages they have are immaterial; the next minute they’re saying they don’t exist. Which is it?”

Inquiry chair Lady Hallett had ordered the government to hand over the messages – alongside diary entries and notes – by 4pm on Tuesday 30 May.

The deadline has now been set for 4pm on Thursday 1 June. The Cabinet Office asked for an extension to Monday 5 June as they do not have access to Mr Johnson‘s messages or notebooks, but this was rejected.

Politics latest:
PM promises ‘transparency’ amid Johnson COVID message reprieve

What is the COVID inquiry asking for?

Unredacted messages sent and received by Boris Johnson between 1 January 2020 and 24 February 2022.
Unredacted diaries for Mr Johnson between 1 January 2020 and 24 February 2022
Copies of 24 unredacted notebooks filled in by Mr Johnson between 1 January 2020 and 24 February 2022
Unredacted messages sent and received by adviser Henry Cook between 1 January 2020 and 24 February 2022.
The inquiry wants messages – even from group chats – about the government response to COVID, as well as contact with a list of certain experts, ministers, civil servants and advisers

This is despite saying in their original appeal against the order that there was “unambiguously irrelevant” material in the redacted parts of messages sent to the inquiry.

When the Cabinet Office lodged the appeal on 15 May, it said Mr Johnson’s WhatsApp messages had not yet been received by the government.

A spokesman for the former prime minister said today that he had “no objection” to sending the material to the inquiry.

Mr Johnson has written to the Cabinet Office to demand the government requests in writing access to his messages and notes – which he says has not happened yet.

Sources close to Mr Johnson say Cabinet Office officials have visited his office in person to examine notebooks within the past few weeks.

If the government does not abide by the new deadline on Thursday, Lady Hallett has ordered that a statement be sent by a “senior civil servant” confirming the Cabinet Office does not have the requested information, as well as a chronology of the government’s contacts with Mr Johnson about the requests and whether the government has ever had the data.

Breaking a section 21 order could see the government face criminal proceedings, and there is also potential for a court battle over whether the information should be passed to the inquiry.

Speaking shortly before the inquiry’s announcement, Mr Sunak said the “government is carefully considering its position, but it is confident in the approach that it’s taking”.

But Mr Streeting said the prime minister’s “slipperiness” gave “the impression of someone who is not fully committed to transparency, openness, accountability”.

Asked whether he was concerned about a potential “cover up”, Mr Streeting said: “I think the fact the prime minister looks so slippery today will be a cause of deep anxiety to people who are following the inquiry closely – not least those families who have suffered bereavement and just want some honesty and some answers.”

The battle between the parties centres on messages Mr Johnson sent and received, as well as his diaries and his notebooks from during the pandemic.

Lady Hallett made an order under section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005 for the material to be handed over by the Cabinet Office.

Messages to and from former adviser Henry Cook were also included in the legal action.

It is this order which has now been extended.

Lady Hallett highlighted in her explanation that the Cabinet Office redacted material about the policing of Sarah Everard protests during the period of restrictions – something she said was “not a promising start”.

She later obtained the messages in full.

She also identified communications – which have still only been seen in their redacted form – that she considers are “in fact relevant to my investigation”.

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “It now appears that vital evidence has gone missing. It must be found and handed over as requested if the whiff of a cover-up is to be avoided and bereaved families are to get the answers they deserve.”

Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader, added: “The public has waited long enough already to get the truth. The inquiry’s work mustn’t be delayed any longer because of endless chaos in the Conservative Party.”

World

Four killed and dozens injured after building collapses on beach in Majorca

Published

2 hours ago

May 23, 2024

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Four killed and dozens injured after building collapses on beach in Majorca

Four people have been killed and 27 are injured after a building collapsed on a beach in Majorca – with people still trapped inside.

The building – reported to be a restaurant – collapsed in the capital of the island, Palma – a tourist hotspot.

Pictures have emerged of emergency services evacuating people from the building, with some being taken out on a stretcher.

Firefighters and police were called to the scene just after 8pm local time, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reports.

Witnesses reported the terrace at the top of a popular restaurant had collapsed.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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World

Video showing bloodied Israeli female soldiers captured by Hamas released

Published

11 hours ago

May 23, 2024

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Video showing bloodied Israeli female soldiers captured by Hamas released

The three-minute video of five young female Israeli soldiers being taken by Hamas from their base on 7 October is harrowing and extremely upsetting to watch.

The soldiers are Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy.

They all worked at the Nahal Oz observation base, monitoring activity on the Gaza border.

The video, which has been edited in places, was filmed around 9am on the Saturday.

It starts with the five soldiers, unarmed and helpless, standing facing the wall as their hands are tied behind their backs.

Some of them have bloody faces, they all look shocked and frightened.

“You dogs, we will step on you,” one Hamas fighter can be heard saying.

“I have friends in Palestine,” one of the girls pleads. She’s ordered to stay quiet.

They are made to sit down and threatened with being shot.

At this point, another of the soldiers asks to call her friend in Gaza, presumably in a desperate attempt to convince the attackers not to harm them.

There appear to be more than 10 Hamas fighters, all heavily armed and with bullet proof vests on.

Some have green Hamas bandanas around their heads. They appear relaxed, at one point stopping to pray.

It exposes the complete failure of Israel to foresee and prevent the attacks.

Finally, the video cuts to the female soldiers being hurried out of the building and put into one of their own khaki army jeeps.

One is carried, another hops on an injured leg.

There is the sound of heavy gunfire as Israeli forces battle Hamas nearby.

Many Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting there that day.

The video was put together from body cameras worn by the Hamas attackers that day and released by The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, to put pressure on the Israeli government.

The video, the group said, “is a damning testament to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages”.

The families have asked the video be broadcast “until somebody wakes up”.

Who are the teenagers in the video?

Liri Albag

Liri Albag, who is 18, is described by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum as having a “heart of gold”.

Her life “revolves around music and the arts”, they added.

Karina Ariev

Karina Ariev is 19 and “loves the field of cosmetics, makeup and beauty”. Her ambition, the group says, is to make a career in this industry.

Her mother told reporters in October she spoke to them on the morning of the attack, saying she “screamed and said she loves us very much”.

“She told us to continue our lives,” she added.

Agam Berger

Agam Berger, 19, volunteers with people who have special needs and with children who have learning difficulties.

Her father told the Associated Press in March one of his three daughters has not gone to school since 7 October, while one of his young daughters has stopped eating.

His wife, an engineer, does not go to work and he tries to avoid the news to save himself the daily roller coaster.

Daniela Gilboa

Daniela Gilboa is 19.

Her mother, Orly Gilboa told Reuters the girls “suffer there every minute, every second”.

“So please, please do whatever you can to bring them home,” she added.

Naama Levy

Naama Levy, 19, is described by her family as strong, according to the Times of Israel.

She’s a triathlete, used to working hard in training and pushing past obstacles – which are traits her family hopes are helping her withstand captivity.

She’s also the great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, the paper adds, and took part in the Hands of Peace project in the US, which worked for peace between Israel and the Palestinians until it shut in March.

Ceasefire talks have all but broken down since Israel and Hamas couldn’t agree a deal a few weeks ago.

Last night, in Tel Aviv, the Israeli war cabinet ordered the negotiating team to restart talks, reportedly with a fresh mandate.

Egyptian mediators are now said to be exploring options, although Cairo threatened to pull out of talks earlier in the week over a disagreement with Israel.

World

Singapore Airlines turbulence: People seriously injured on fatal flight need ‘spinal operations’, hospital says

Published

13 hours ago

May 23, 2024

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Singapore Airlines turbulence: People seriously injured on fatal flight need 'spinal operations', hospital says

Many of the people seriously injured on the London-Singapore flight that hit severe turbulence need operations on their spines, a Bangkok hospital has said.

A spokesperson for the Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, said six Britons are among 20 people still in intensive care after the Boeing 777 Singapore Airlines flight sharply descended 6,000ft (1,800 metres) after hitting the turbulence over the Andaman Sea.

Others in the ICU include six Malaysians, three Australians, two Singaporeans and one person each from Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

Some of the 211 passengers on board flight SQ321 described their “sheer terror” as the aircraft began shuddering, causing people to be “launched into the ceiling” while others laid paralysed on the floor.

Geoff Kitchen, 73, from Gloucestershire in the UK died from a suspected heart attack after the freak incident despite flight crew trying to revive him for 20 minutes.

One of the passengers, Josh Silverstone, told Sky News that there was an alert for the seatbelts to come on and then there was a “huge bang”.

“I remember waking up on the floor and just hearing people crying and I am looking around and seeing blood and the ceiling falling through,” he said.

Mr Silverstone said there was an elderly lady in front of him who couldn’t move and couldn’t remember her name or why she was on the flight, while cabin crew members, who had their own injuries, were lying on the floor with passengers making sure they were okay.

The Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said it had provided medical care to a total of 104 people after the flight was diverted to Thailand.

It remains unclear what exactly caused the turbulence, but data from Flightradar24, said “the flight encountered a rapid change in vertical rate, consistent with a sudden turbulence event”.

At 3.03pm local time, the flight changed course and began its diversion to Bangkok and around 20 minutes later declared an emergency.

Tim Atkinson, an aviation consultant and pilot, told the Sky News Daily podcast he believes “it’s fairly clear” the Singapore Airlines flight “encountered atmospheric turbulence”.

He noted that the area – called the Intertropical Convergence Zone – where the Boeing 777 plunged 6,000 feet is “renowned among pilots, and I dare say passengers, for turbulence”.