Has the Cabinet Office complied with Heather Hallett’s request?

Crikey
news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-to-bypass-cabinet-office-and-hand-over-unredacted-messages-directly-to-covid-inquiry-12894902

Robert Peston on Twitter is asking if Sue Gray had access to BJ’s old mobile plus how very odd that no one thought to re-activate the mobile as it covered prime time Partygate etc.
No one seems to include the Cabinet Office and the security services if only to check whether or not Russia and China hadn’t tried to access information as the security on the phone had been compromised.
I reckon no one can find the charger …..

Casdon

Crikey
news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-to-bypass-cabinet-office-and-hand-over-unredacted-messages-directly-to-covid-inquiry-12894902

Johnson really does hate Sunak, doesn’t he?

Siope

Casdon

Crikey
news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-to-bypass-cabinet-office-and-hand-over-unredacted-messages-directly-to-covid-inquiry-12894902

Johnson really does hate Sunak, doesn’t he?

It would certainly appear so. It seems Johnson is hoping others will be dragged down with him. It's all one big game to him.

Don’t be too fooled. What Johnson has only goes back a year or two. The real stuff which will show his incompetence and mendacity he doesn’t have access to.

He’s playing to the gallery as usual.

Whitewavemark2

Don’t be too fooled. What Johnson has only goes back a year or two. The real stuff which will show his incompetence and mendacity he doesn’t have access to.

He’s playing to the gallery as usual.

There’s a reason for him doing this though, which is interesting in itself. It undermines the decision of Sunak.

Of course, but it is an empty gesture and he knows it.

Whitewavemark2

Of course, but it is an empty gesture and he knows it.

I suspect there may be something incriminating for somebody else on the messages?

Whitewavemark2

Don’t be too fooled. What Johnson has only goes back a year or two. The real stuff which will show his incompetence and mendacity he doesn’t have access to.

He’s playing to the gallery as usual.

However, there seems to be a widespread opinion that whatever was on the missing phone could be recovered, not least by our intelligence agencies.

I see this morning on twitter that there's another significant minister whose phone was'changed ' in 2021.

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/lord-bethell-in-hot-water-after-phone-containing-documents-relating-to-covid-contracts-mysteriously-broken-284574/

From reading a statement - Johnson has no intention of handing the relevant phone over. He is asking the security forces to unlock it and he will then hand over”all relevant information” 😄😄😄 Anybody believe that he will?

He doesn’t get to decide what is relevant only the enquiry judge gets to decide that.

Does he actually have the phone that was hacked himself then, and hasn’t previously handed it to a government department, or is he talking about his personal phone - I’m getting confused.

Oh yes it can be recovered and this may well end up being done. And yes I knew about the change of phones in 2021. The question is how many of them did the same?

Hancock anyone?

Casdon

Whitewavemark2

Of course, but it is an empty gesture and he knows it.

I suspect there may be something incriminating for somebody else on the messages?

I think there is something incriminating for someone else as well. Maybe the charger is under Wilfred's mattress.

Casdon

Does he actually have the phone that was hacked himself then, and hasn’t previously handed it to a government department, or is he talking about his personal phone - I’m getting confused.

I suspect it is one and the same

In his letter, available on Guido Fawkes, BJ suggests that the Cabinet Office should be involved in accessing information on the old mobile. Why should the Cabinet Office do this? Surely BJ needs to get the mobile to Baroness Hallett and her team needs to sort out access to the messages?

Whitewavemark2

Casdon

Does he actually have the phone that was hacked himself then, and hasn’t previously handed it to a government department, or is he talking about his personal phone - I’m getting confused.

I suspect it is one and the same

Smoke and mirrors. It’s all very interesting even when we have no idea what’s really going on!

The question is how many of them did the same?

Well, there's Lord Bethell, as I posted earlier...

What we can be absolutely sure of though is that Johnson is acting entirely in his own interest, and probably lying.

BoJo is trying to whitewash himself but what about his previous phone? The government is playing for time by going for a judicial review which they are almost sure to lose given Lady Hallett is a former appeal justice. I wonder how they will use the time gained?

What is the point of the judicial review if Baroness Hallett has all the evidence she requested suddenly land on her desk? Does she need permission to read the evidence?
This does smack completely of guano …..

ronib

What is the point of the judicial review if Baroness Hallett has all the evidence she requested suddenly land on her desk? Does she need permission to read the evidence?
This does smack completely of guano …..

? I’m not sure what you mean, she doesn’t have all the evidence does she, only Boris’s messages from April 2021 onwards at the moment? She wants all WhatsApp message related to the decision making process, so from all cabinet ministers who were involved.

Casdon BJ has agreed to provide Baroness Hallett with his notebooks and old mobile phone. See his letter to her on the Guido Fawkes website for more details.

ronib

Casdon BJ has agreed to provide Baroness Hallett with his notebooks and old mobile phone. See his letter to her on the Guido Fawkes website for more details.

Did you read what I asked ronib? It’s not all about Boris Johnson you know!

There is, I think, a wider question here about whether the use of encrypted (and deletable) electronic messages for government business is appropriate, and, if it’s deemed so, what rules need to be put in place around access, confidentiality and national security. It also has implications for the release of information under the 30 year rule.

I wonder how governments elsewhere are managing this?

Whitewavemark2

👀

“Dear Cabinet Office
Our lives were in your hands.
Whatever you're hiding was a matter of life and death to us.
Some of us were lucky to survive.
Many did not.
We're entitled to know why.
Every little bit of it.
Michael Rosen”

Most of us survived
Some did not

That's how diseases work, surely? I don't think covid was much different from other coronavirus infections.