Boris Johnson – latest: Ex-PM goes over Sunak’s head to send unredacted WhatsApps ‘directly’ to inquiry

Boris Johnson said he would share with the Covid inquiry all the unredacted WhatsApps he provided to the Cabinet Office, as well as material from his old mobile phone.

In his letter to chairwoman Baroness Hallett, he wrote: “I am sending your inquiry all unredacted WhatsApps I provided to the Cabinet Office.

“I would like to do the same with any material that may be on an old phone which I have been previously been told I can no longer access safely.

“In view of the urgency of your request I believe we need to test this advice, which came from the security services.

“I have asked the Cabinet Office for assistance in turning it on securely so that I can search it for all relevant material.

“I propose to pass all such material directly to you.”,

Adam Forrest reports:

We’re pausing our live coverage for this evening, we’ll bring you the latest updates as we get them.

Exclusive: Swing voters’ main concerns about Labour are revealed in new polling that shows nearly a third are worried the party will not do a better job of tackling the cost of living crisis than the Tories:

Experts at an Independent online event agreed there were changes that could be made, either by a Labour government or a Conservative one, over the next few years that would make trade easier without Britain going back into the EU single market or customs union:

More than six in 10 Britons believe the government should have to provide all messages requested, a new poll suggests.

According to YouGov, 61 per cent said ministers should do so.

But 23 per cent said they should only have to provide messages that the government thinks are relevant to the inquiry.

The potential risks of accessing Boris Johnson’s old mobile phone to retrieve WhatsApps for the Covid-19 inquiry are minimal, a cyber-security expert has said.

“His phone wasn’t hacked, it hadn’t been compromised or any such thing,” Alan Woodward, a professor at the University of Surrey, told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme.

“Asking the Cabinet Office to help him do it securely is quite sensible - and they can.

“They’ve got the facilities to do it. It really wouldn’t take much to turn the phone on and get those messages off quite safely.”

He added that “in terms of recovering those messages, it’s perfectly possible to do that without exposing it to the potential threat”.

The Covid inquiry has sent Boris Johnson a list of 150 questions and requests for his witness statement, documents released by the Cabinet Office have shown.

Key questions the former PM has been asked include:

• Did you say ‘let the bodies pile high’?
• Was there any scientific evidence on Eat Out to Help Out?
• Did the Cabinet secretary really suggest Covid ‘chickenpox parties?’
• Did you really say you felt ‘manipulated’ by scientists into imposing a lockdown?
• When and how did you first learn of Covid?

Jon Stone has more:

A MP suspended by the party Labour over sexual harassment allegations is facing fresh claims he “boasted” about bringing sex workers into parliamentary bars.

Geraint Davies has been suspended pending an investigation into reports of “incredibly serious allegations of completely unacceptable behaviour”.

One woman has submitted a formal complaint, after Politico initially reported that five other women made sexual harassment claims against the politician. The MP said he did not “recognise” the claims.

Adam Forrest reports:

Brexit was a “historic economic error” which has helped fuel high inflation in the UK, the former US Treasury chief Larry Summers has said.

The senior American economist also said he would be “very surprised” if Britain avoids a recession in the next two years.

Mr Summers said Brexit and other policies mean Britain’s economic woes are “frankly more acute than they are in most other major countries.”

Adam Forrest reports:

The former chancellor’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme helped to lift the post-lockdown gloom, but might come back to bite him as PM, writes Andrew Grice.

Read Andrew’s full piece here: