Boris Johnson hands COVID-era WhatsApps to UK government amid inquiry row

FILE PHOTO: Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves his home, in London, Britain March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

LONDON (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given his pandemic-era notebooks and messages to the government and urged officials to pass them on to an independent COVID-19 inquiry, his spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Cabinet Office, which is responsible for overseeing the operation of government, is in a standoff with the inquiry over whether it should hand over material it deems to be irrelevant to the investigation.