UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak Blocks Release of COVID-19 Inquiry Documents, Setting Up Legal Battle

This has set up a legal battle that risks amplifying accusations of a cover-up.

The Cabinet Office has filed for a judicial review into the request for the unredacted documents, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Sunak's administration argues that the requested documents are "unambiguously irrelevant" to the official probe into how ministers and officials handled the coronavirus outbreak.

Opposition politicians, families of Covid victims, doctors, and even some members of his governing Conservative Party have called for him to comply, with the public desiring answers and not another cover-up.

Johnson has offered to share the unredacted material with the inquiry, which would include messages from the beginning of the pandemic stored on an old device that had been switched off on security advice.

The UK government's top lawyer, James Eadie, advised against sharing information with a government inquiry on default, and recommended blocking the release of "politically sensitive" material about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inquiry's chair, Lady Justice Hallett, disagreed and is demanding more information.

The Cabinet Office claims to have provided over 55,000 documents and 24 personal witness statements, but Hallett believes she has the power to request any information relevant to her work.