COVID inquiry: Rishi Sunak accused of being ‘slippery’ over order to hand over Boris Johnson WhatsApp messages
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.
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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.
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PM: Govt ‘cooperating with COVID inquiry’
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.
Baroness Hallett opens preliminary hearing for COVID-19 inquiry
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”.
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New deadline for ex-PM’s COVID messages
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.”
China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.
Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.
“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.
“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”
Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine Coastguard, told Sky News that China is a ‘bully’
The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.
The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.
The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.
Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.
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Sky witnesses China-Philippine confrontation
The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.
It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.
Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.
China’s coastguard fired water at Philippine coastguard vessel BRP Bagacay while Sky was onboard
He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.
“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.
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Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.
The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.
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“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.
Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.
Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.
World
Three charged over killing of Sikh separatist leader in Canada – in incident which sparked diplomatic spat with India
Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a temple by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, on 18 June 2023.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner David Teboul said police could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive.
“This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said.
The three suspects – Indian nationals Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh – were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said: “This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals.”
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Canada killing ‘linked’ to India govt
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India when he said in September that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing. India angrily denied involvement.
Mr Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a leader in what remains of the Khalistan movement – a once-strong group calling for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland.
He was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death and had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.
The Khalistan movement has lost much of its power but is still supported by some in the Punjab state in northwestern India and in the Sikh diaspora overseas.
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A violent, decade-long Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s, and was ultimately crushed in a government crackdown which saw thousands of people killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
In June 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, where separatists had taken refuge.
In more recent years, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.
Read more: What is the Khalistan movement?
Mr Trudeau’s accusation angered India PM Narendra Modi. File pic: AP
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The diplomatic row saw diplomats expelled by both India and Canada.
The Indian government said it “completely rejected” Mr Trudeau’s allegations and added: “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”
The dispute derailed trade talks between the two countries and ultimately saw Canada withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats in India.
At the time, Canada did not provide public evidence to back up Mr Trudeau’s allegations. However, it did reveal the claims were based on intelligence provided by a major ally and surveillance of Indian diplomats in the country.
Heavy rains in southern Brazil have killed 37 people, local authorities have said, with dozens still unaccounted for.
More than 70 people are missing and at least 23,000 people have been displaced in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the state’s civil defence agency.
In some cities, water levels have been at their highest since records began almost 150 years ago, the Brazilian Geological Service said.
It said the flooding is the worst to hit the state in more than 80 years, surpassing that of a historic deluge in 1941.
Roads have been turned into rivers in several towns, with bridges destroyed and the storm triggering landslides and the partial collapse of a dam structure at a hydroelectric power plant.
A drone view of Lajeado in Rio Grande do Sul. Pic: Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via Reuters
Residents near to a second dam in the city of Bento Goncalves have been ordered to evacuate, as fears of another collapse grow.
“It’s not just another critical situation, it’s probably the most critical case the state has ever recorded,” Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite said on social media.
He added the number of deaths will likely rise as authorities have not been able to reach some locations.
A birds-eye view of the flooding in Sao Sebastiao do Cai, in Rio Grande do Sul. Pic: AP
The devastation in Lajaedo. Pic: Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via Reuters
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has travelled to the state to visit affected locations and discuss rescue efforts with the governor.
The state is at a geographical meeting point between tropical and polar atmospheres, which has created periods of intense rains and others of drought.
Scientists believe the pattern has been intensifying due to climate change.
Roads have been turned into rivers in several towns. Pic: AP
Heavy rains hit the state last September, as an extratropical cyclone caused floods that killed more than 50 people.
That came after more than two years of a persistent drought due to the La Nina phenomenon.
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