Latest news as Covid inquiry legal battle looms over Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages

Ministers could be set for a legal battle with the Covid-19 inquiry over the requested release of unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries belonging to Boris Johnson by the deadline of 4pm today.

There has so far been little sign that ministers are set to shift from the position that the Government has no duty to disclose “unambiguously irrelevant” material.

The row was sparked by a legal request sent by the inquiry on 28 April for a number of materials, including unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries belonging to the former prime minister between January 2020 and February 2022.

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