THE Covid-19 public inquiry will scrutinise Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages as part of its investigation into the government’s handling of the pandemic. 

Lead counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith KC said thousands of documents had been requested to inform the probe, including the WhatsApp conversations of the ex-PM and other senior officials, as well as Cabinet ministers and notes of written and oral advice to ministers.

Speaking at a preliminary hearing of the probe yesterday, Mr Keith said there would be “particular scrutiny” of decisions made by the former PM, the Cabinet and political, scientific and medical advisers in the three months leading up to the March 2020 lockdown.