The government has lost its legal challenge to block Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApps, notebooks and diaries from being handed over to the official Covid inquiry, after a ruling by the high court.

Aubrey Allegretti www.theguardian.com 

Ministers launched a judicial review last week, with lawyers for the Cabinet Office arguing it should get to decide what material was “unambiguously irrelevant” to the inquiry.

But the inquiry’s lead counsel said the idea that the Cabinet Office could decide which documents were relevant “would emasculate this and future inquiries”.

Johnson’s lawyer supported the inquiry, and warned there was a “real danger” of undermining public confidence in the process if the Cabinet Office was successful.

High court judges handed down their decision on Thursday, six days after the hearing where the legal arguments were heard.