So these WhatsApp messages that Sunak is trying to block...

[CalistoNoSolo]

...do you think they contain something that could bring down the government? All the commentators etc seem to be quite suprised/confused that he's trying to block these messages being sent as raw unredacted data to the covid enquiry (including robert buckland qc). It makes me wonder just how much sensitive info or awfulness from Johnson he's trying to hide, and why? Anyone got any ideas? Baseless conjecture as welcome as sensible answers :)

Well it’s the Tories isn’t it, they are all nasty cunts but I’ll be very interested to see how low they stoop.

They must implicate an awful lot of important people high in government.

He's not doing it to protect Johnson, I'm sure of that.

Bring down the government? Bloody well hope so.

Well that's my take. Sunak is a vile individual and certainly wouldn't think twice about hanging Johnson out to dry if he could do so without damaging himself.

It sure won’t be about protecting Johnson. It’s presumably about protecting Sunak.

So if its sunak protecting himself, and it's covid era messages, it's probably going to be along the lines of how he ran the treasury and the lack of oversight on covid loans etc. But that doesn't seem bad enough to go to these lengths so there must be something worse.

Doesn’t want the contracts for the mates messages made public.

Sunak is a vile individual and certainly wouldn't think twice about hanging Johnson out to dry if he could do so without damaging himself.

Johnson is also a vile individual and certainly wouldn't think twice about hanging Sunak out to dry if he could do so without damaging himself.

I've come to the conclusion that absolutely nothing will bring this government down but a general election, which they will thankfully almost certainly lose. I've stopped getting excited about the scandals and crises that they lurch between on seemingly a weekly basis as bloody nothing seems to ever have any impact or consequence for them. Roll on 2024.

Yes!

Johnson's announcement this afternoon has proved exactly what I wrote this morning.

Some of the reporting of Johnson’s most recent letter is very selective, making it look as though he is offering unrestricted access to his material. But what is key is that the WhatsApps he has already sent the Cabinet Office (some 40 or so conversations, he says) date only from April 2021, when he changed his phone. And he doesn’t say he’s provided all WhatsApps, he merely says that those he has provided to the Cabinet Office can be provided in unredacted form to the Inquiry.

So far he has provided nothing from the first year of the pandemic, because he says he’s forbidden (following security advice) to turn on his old phone which was “compromised” by his number having been available online for 15 years. And if a secure method of accessing that phone can be identified (my teenager could have told him about a Faraday cage) then he is not offering to provide its contents in full. What he has said to the Inquiry is that he wants the opportunity to search it himself for “relevant” material, which he would then hand over.

*By “provided nothing from the first year of the pandemic” I’m referring only to the position regarding WhatsApps.

Nothing would bring the government down, all of the ways they've fucked us over and we roll over and take it. Genuinely can't think of anything these messages could say that would make us as a country grow a backbone.

I don't think they will bring down the government. It could be after the next general election that some of them become public knowledge.

When hopefully the Tories will be out of office.

I think it's very probable they implicate all sorts of powerful people and politicians in non ok practices and not just Johnson and Sunak - hence why they don't want them out there

I'm interested that Boris sees no issue handing them over himself, unredacted.

I'd wager its bad for Sunak. Bit of plotting to bring Boris down or how he hides his millions? Something that could bring Sunak down for sure.

Except it’s illegal to use a a Faraday cage to block signals to a phone in the UK.

This is Boris's play at throwing Sunak under the bus..and then Boris will run for Prime Minister again at the next election.

I said the same earlier , bojo doesn't care so must reflect badly on others not just him. Either that or they are kicking up a fuss about that and sneaking some other awfulness out while the news are outraged...

It isn't necessarily that he sees no issue. He could well think they're coming out anyway and he benefits more from doing it voluntarily than forcibly. He could also realise it's bad for him but want to take Sunak and/or other Tories down with him.

I suspect there may be content between Rishi and Boris about the 3 million excluded from covid support and Rishi's refusal to do anything about it/lying in Parliament about it.

The whole thing is just... I think it's safe to assume that whatever is in there is more damaging for Sunak than BoJo.

Separately, I feel a bit thick but... Boris Johnson's old phone is turned off and the security services have been advised can't be switched back on... what is it that would happen if it was switched on?

Is there currently a court case with Michelle Mone and whoever she's married to? I wonder what's on the WhatsApps concerning them. I recall reading she badgered No 10 constantly until awarded the ££££s. Hmm.