COVID inquiry: Senior civil servant Martin Reynolds admits WhatsApp messages in Boris Johnson group chat were ‘set to disappear’ | UK News

A senior civil servant during the pandemic admitted setting WhatsApp messages to “disappear” after the COVID inquiry was announced – but said he can’t remember why.

Martin Reynolds, who was Boris Johnson’s principal private secretary, turned on a “disappearing message function” on a WhatsApp group titled “PM Updates” on 15 April 2021, the COVID inquiry has heard.

Asked by barrister Hugo Keith KC why he did this, he said he can “guess” and “speculate” but he “cannot recall exactly why I did so”.

He added: “It could, for example, have been because I was worried of someone screenshotting or using some of the exchanges and leaking them.”

Politics latest: Key figures under Boris Johnson giving evidence to COVID inquiry

Mr Reynolds was infamously nicknamed “Party Marty” after writing a notorious “bring your own booze” email to Downing Street staff during the first lockdown.

He is the first of several senior Downing Street officials giving evidence to the COVID inquiry this week, followed this afternoon by former director of communications Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings, Number 10’s former chief adviser, tomorrow.

The inquiry’s module two hearings are considering core UK decision-making and political governance.

Mr Reynolds’ hearing opened with a focus on how messages were sent and recorded.

It was revealed the country’s top civil servant said Mr Johnson was “mad” if he did not believe his private WhatsApp messages would become public as part of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry.

The comments were made in WhatsApp messages between Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Mr Reynolds, who replied: “Agreed.”

Mr Reynolds is also being questioned about the power dynamics in Number 10 in January and February 2020, just before the pandemic broke out.

He described Dominic Cummings – once Mr Johnson’s ally and now his adversary – as the “most empowered chief of staff Downing Street had ever seen”.

Asked if the Cabinet Office was incapable of managing a crisis, he said: “I do think there are many things that could have been done differently. It didn’t have the plans and processes in place to move from the early stage through to the crisis stage.”