The Hallett Inquiry - Highlights of Week 4

I'm not a doom monger, but hey, here comes the doom.

We've started week 4 with the Approved judgment for The Cabinet Office Office versus the Chair of the UK Covid Inquiry, which is now in.

The judgment granted permission to the Cabinet Office to apply for judicial review about the correct interpretation of section 21 of the Inquiries Act. Section 21 gives powers to the chair of the Inquiry to require the production of evidence.

All did not go the cabinet office's way; the review found the section 21 notice issued to the Cabinet Office was valid and that the Inquiry Chair acted rationally in issuing section 21(2)(b) of the notice “to provide any documents in his custody or under his control that relate to a matter in question at the inquiry.” 

The claim for judicial review was dismissed. The Cabinet Office has until 4 pm Monday to get its act together and send in the information - the unredacted versions of “various WhatsApp messages between 2020 and 2022 exchanged between the second interested party, the former Prime Minister, The Right H…