The political future of the former British prime minister Boris Johnson and his domestic war against Conservatives who defend him and others who hate him ahead of a general election – in which he could be the Tory candidate – will be settled in UK courts.
His role in Covid parties under the restrictions and his liability will be resolved by British justice, in one situation Without precedents.
The former prime minister has challenged incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to hand over Johnson’s messages and notebooks to the Covid inquiry as cabinet ministers prepare to settle the matter in court.
The Cabinet has until Thursday afternoon to respond to a request for an investigation into the raw and (sensitive) WhatsApp messages exchanged by the former prime minister and 40 ministers and advisers over a period of more than two years.
Baroness Hallet, former judge of the court of appeal, presides over the inquiry into Covid.
He Covid party of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his diary and diaries plunged the British Cabinet Office into a Unpublished legal battle for the publication of Boris’ WhatsApp messagesas part of the investigation into Covid-19 and the way the prime minister and the government have handled the pandemic.
The future of Boris Johnson
The Cabinet Office is determined not to publish the full documents, agenda, diaries and correspondence, spanning more than two years, arguing parts of the discussions are ‘unambiguously irrelevant’ and ‘affect Boris Johnson’s privacy’ “, which was never consulted, for the investigation.
The government has insisted that the inquiry, which is due to begin its three-year public hearing in two weeks’ time, cannot “request unequivocally irrelevant information which is beyond the scope of the inquiry”.
The Cabinet said its lawyers should be empowered to determine what material is of potential use in the investigation. Boris dismissed the Cabinet Office’s lawyers and kept his own. His feeling is that they want to liquidate his political career.
The Covid investigation claims diaries and texts in the archives of Boris Johnson’s supporters. Could the former head of government go to jail for the WhatsApp investigation into Covid?
The decision, in the hands of the judge
Baroness Hallett, a former Court of Appeal judge presiding over the inquiry, wants to make her own decision on what is relevant to consider as evidence.
wednesday night, Johnson publicly urged Sunak to comply with the demands. Of the investigation.
A spokesman said Johnson had passed all the material “to the Cabinet Office in complete and unedited form” and urged the Office to “urgently disclose it to investigators”.
There are meetings of Boris with his mother and sister in Downing St, with friends in Checkers, their country house. The spokesman said Johnson “will promptly disclose this directly to the investigation if requested”.
Government sources insist Johnson doesn’t have to wait for the inquiry to ask and could send the material now if he wishes.
Expiration
If Thursday’s deadline passes without a resolution, Hallett can take the matter to court. The government could also ask for a judicial review of their claims.
Lord Saville of Newdigate, a retired High Court judge who presided over the 12-year inquiry into Northern Ireland’s Bloody Sunday, said the Cabinet Office’s approach was “highly questionable”. “It is up to the investigation to decide what is relevant, and about no one else,” he said.
Saville said he had handled “quite a few” national security documents during his investigation. “The way we dealt with it was we were allowed to go and read it and decide whether or not it was relevant, and also make a decision whether or not it should be in the public domain,” he said.
“It seems to me that there are at least two fundamental principles for anyone conducting a public inquiry. I am that it must be complete and it must be right. As for thoroughness, you can immediately see where Heather Hallett is coming from because she obviously means, and she’s a very, very good judge, to do a thorough job,” she clarified.
“Looking at it from the point of view of someone who has done a public inquiry, you really have to be thorough because if you’re not, it’s a huge waste of time and money,” said Lord Saville.
Possible defeat for the government
Lord Sumption, another former High Court judge, said he anticipated the government would be defeated in court.
“If Hallett concludes it is in the public interest for something to be disclosed within his terms of reference, I frankly cannot see the courts overturning his decision,” he told the BBC.
He believes the government “will fail in a judicial review, so the only thing they will achieve by resisting is to make it appear they are hiding something”. He added: “I think that would be both a political mistake and a legal buffer.”
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Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.