UK COVID Inquiry: Mordaunt Claims Johnson's Messages Vanished From Her Phone

Facts

• UK cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt has told the official COVID inquiry that a series of WhatsApp messages between her and former prime minister Boris Johnson disappeared from her phone.¹
• Mordaunt has claimed that no explanation was offered by Downing Street's security team for the sudden disappearance of messages exchanged with Johnson between March 2018 and 2020, despite her 'attempts to clarify this issue.'²
• The Leader of the House of Commons has also stated that she attempted to arrange meetings to discuss the matter with Johnson's then-chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield, 14 times. However, she allegedly received 'no response from his team.'²
• Mordaunt also claims she was told it would cost approximately £1K ($1.3K) a day for six weeks for her personal phone to be examined and that Johnson 'may have deleted all his messages and switched off his phone' due to a 'security breach.'³
• Meanwhile, in his testimony, Johnson admitted he couldn't access approximately 5K WhatsApp messages from his old phone between January and June 2020. However, he has denied they had been deleted.⁴
• The inquiry — approved by Johnson in 2021 — is investigating the government's handling of the pandemic. Public hearings are scheduled to run from June 13 until 2026.⁵

Sources: ¹Independent, ²Uk covid, ³The national, ⁴BBC News and ⁵Itn.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Guardian. The COVID inquiry is designed to establish the facts concerning governmental behavior during the pandemic. Its purpose is being completely undermined by the circus surrounding the disappearance of Johnson's WhatsApp messages. However, the truth of the government's incompetence is still clear for everybody to see: at a time when the British public most needed strong leadership, they were let down.
• Narrative B, as provided by Spectator (UK). Inquiries are consequential when their focus is forward-looking, but this investigation is only looking back at calamities the public is already aware of. While further scrutiny may be cathartic, it will not enable a pandemic to be more successfully contained in the future. Unless the direction of the COVID inquiry takes a sharp turn, it will end up an expensive, wasted opportunity.

Predictions