Some of the WhatsApps and diaries that the Cabinet Office went to court to avoid revealing to the Covid inquiry were in fact “relevant” to proceedings and can be made public, the chair has ruled, after examining them for herself.
Heather Hallet’s judgement, which is legally binding, comes after the government released all of the unredacted notebooks and WhatsApps to her confidentially so that she could make a decision on their contents.
The Cabinet Office had claimed some passages were “unambiguously irrelevant” and should be exempt from the order to hand over evidence.
