Fresh questions are being raised about whether Rishi Sunak all relevant material to the Covid query after reports that pranksters were able to access an old phone number he used during his time as chancellor.
The prime minister will face a day of questioning at the inquiry on Monday, where he is expected to be questioned about his claims that scientists had too much power. He will also be asked detailed questions about the “eat out to help out” scheme that many experts believe allowed the virus to spread.
However, he will also be confronted about his claims that he was unable to deliver WhatsApp messages covering a crucial period because he changed phones several times and the messages were not backed up.
There were reports afterwards that pranksters were able to access a long-standing phone number for Sunak, who rang before a voicemail recording was played. Questions are now being asked about whether Sunak gave the inquiry access to material related to that number.
Missing messages are already the subject of scrutiny at the inquiry into a large cache that former prime minister Boris Johnson failed to hand over. Johnson said he was unable to access messages between January 31 and June 7, 2020 – a crucial period in the pandemic.
The inquest heard that around 5,000 WhatsApp messages from the period from Johnson’s phone were not traced. Asked about the missing WhatsApps, Johnson said: “I don’t know the exact reason, but it seems like it has something to do with the app going down and then coming back up, but somehow automatically deleting everything in between that date when it went down and the moment it was last backed up.”
The Lib Dems have written to Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general, asking her to clarify the status of Sunak’s phones and messages. She was asked if the messages were accessible, warning that it would be “a criminal offense under the Inquiries Act 2005” to withhold them.
The letter asked what legal advice had been provided to Sunak regarding the requirements under the Inquiries Act, and whether the government had received any contact from the police regarding possible violations.
“It is a travesty that Rishi Sunak’s WhatsApp messages have not been released to the Covid-19 inquiry,” said Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader. “The claims that Sunak’s ‘broken phone’ may be recovered will be of great concern to the thousands of grieving families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic.
“Sunak must not duck and duck from investigation and accountability for his decisions during the pandemic. Any such action would certainly be immoral – and possibly illegal. The prime minister must come clean. If he has nothing to hide, he has nothing to fear.”
A government spokesman said: “As a matter of long-standing policy, we will never comment on security matters. The prime minister and government are fully cooperating with the investigation. We have submitted more than 55,000 documents in support of their work. We are clear that to ensure the integrity of the investigation, evidence submitted must be heard in context and in full.”
In his witness statement to the inquiry, Sunak said: “I have changed my phone a number of times over the last three years, and do not have access to the WhatsApp messages I sent or received during the relevant time, nor the messages do not. backed up.
“My expectation would be that, if the officials of those groups felt that any information communicated via WhatsApp message should be preserved to form part of the official HMT record, those officials would have taken steps to ensure that it happens.”
