Boris Johnson Breaks With Cabinet Office, Surrenders Unredacted WhatsApp Messages to COVID Inquiry

Johnson has also indicated that he will provide the inquiry with any messages that may be on an old mobile phone that he cannot access safely.

In a letter to the inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, Johnson said that he understood the government's position, but he was not willing to let his material become a test case for others.

He added that he would like to provide the inquiry with material on his old phone, which he was previously told he could not access safely.

The move comes as the government faces accusations of a cover-up over their refusal to hand over all of Johnson's unredacted material to the inquiry, which is examining the UK's response to the pandemic.

Johnson, who was the prime minister during the pandemic, had already agreed to provide the material to the Cabinet Office, but the government stood by their argument that the documents and messages being sought by the inquiry are irrelevant and unconnected to the government's handling of COVID.

The legal battle between the inquiry and the government over access to the material is set to continue.