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United Kingdom: the government refuses to provide documents for the investigation into the management of the pandemic

2023-06-01T19:32:35.593Z

Highlights: The British government on Thursday (June 1st) refused to provide documents requested as part of the public inquiry into the management of the pandemic. Former magistrate Heather Hallett had given until Thursday afternoon to the Cabinet Office, the services of the government, for all the required elements to be handed over to her. The Cabinet Office refused to comply and said on Thursday, an hour after the deadline, that it had "sought leave to launch judicial review" The government says it wants to ensure that investigators have "the power to demand documents and messages that are unambiguously unrelated to the work"


The British government on Thursday 1 June refused to provide documents requested as part of the public inquiry into the management of the...


The British government on Thursday (June 1st) refused to provide documents requested as part of the public inquiry into the management of the pandemic, saying it wanted to take legal action to establish whether the requests for this inquiry are justified or not.

Former magistrate Heather Hallett, who is leading the public inquiry into the pandemic, had given until Thursday afternoon to the Cabinet Office, the services of the government, for all the required elements to be handed over to her. The Cabinet Office refused to comply and said on Thursday, an hour after the deadline, that it had "sought leave to launch judicial review."

'Important questions of principle'

The government says it wants to ensure that investigators have "the power to demand documents and messages that are unambiguously unrelated to the work (carried out as part of) the investigation, including personal communications and matters unrelated to the government's handling of Covid". The leaders of the public inquiry want in particular to have Whatsapp exchanges between Boris Johnson and many political and health leaders.

Boris Johnson (pushed to resign in the summer of 2022 after a series of scandals including parties organized in full confinement) announced Wednesday that he had handed over the requested files to the government for it to transmit to investigators. However, the government believes that requiring such documents raises "important questions of principle" and affects "the good conduct of the government".

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Current and former individuals, officials, ministers and ministries should not be required to provide evidence unrelated to investigative work," the government said. "This represents an unwarranted intrusion into other aspects of government work" and an invasion of "privacy."

"Partygate"

For his part, Boris Johnson has assured that he was ready to directly provide the messages that concern him as part of the public inquiry. "I see no reason" why investigators "should not be able to study the content of my own Whatsapp (exchanges on) and notes," he wrote in a letter to Hallett on Thursday. "If you wish to receive these documents immediately, please let me know where and how you would like me to send them to you."

The shadow of "partygate" has returned to torment Boris Johnson after the Cabinet Office reported to the police new elements on possible violations of the rules enacted to deal with Covid. The former prime minister called the accusations "utterly absurd" and said he was cooperating "fully" with investigators from the beginning.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-06-01

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