This is his first intervention since leaving the MP. Credit: Reuters
Boris Johnson claims the Cabinet is refusing to return his notebooks from during his tenure as prime minister for fear he will turn them over for Covid investigation.
Speaking for the first time since resigning as an MP, the former prime minister said the cabinet was “delaying” and accused him of wasting “public time and money”.
The cabinet has launched a judicial review and is seeking to prevent disclosure of any material to the investigation , which he considers “definitely irrelevant” and which could compromise the private lives of the ministers.
Last week, he told the investigation that Johnson could derail the review if he published his reports unilaterally.In his first speech since stepping down as an MP, he told The Times: “The Cabinet has blocked me from directly sharing unredacted material with the investigation, despite my repeated attempts to do so.
“The government wants the whole thing decided by the courts, even though government ministers officially declare that the lawsuit is pointless.
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“Cabinet's drag-and-drop approach costs time and money.
“We have to find out what happened during Covid… and in my opinion, the position of the government is now hindering the work of the investigation.”
Baroness Hallett, who led the investigation, told the cabinet. to communicate its position on the transfer of Johnson's notes and messages to WhatsApp.
Last week, the cabinet admitted that it did not know what its position was on disclosing government messages for investigation, and lawyers said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cases also failed to comply with his requirements.
Hugo Keith KC, investigative adviser, said that within a few days the team would take the notebooks directly from Mr. Johnson and compare them with edited versions from the Cabinet Office that they already have.
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The spat comes as the investigation prepares to hear its first evidence this week, two years after it was announced.
One of the investigation's six modules plans to examine “no resuscitation” orders after several The bereaved families reported their experiences during the survey.
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