A breakthrough may have been in the saga surrounding Boris Johnson’s old mobile phone, after an ally claimed Rishi Sunak’s government has recovered the passcode to unlock it.
The Covid inquiry had demanded the crucial device – known as “Phone 1” in Whitehall – by Monday 4pm but the deadline was missing due to complications in gaining access.
Mr Johnson had forgotten the code used to unlock the iPhone – abandoned in May 2021 after it emerged his mobile number had been online for 15 years, according to The Times.
Allies suggested it was not correct to say the former PM could not recall his own digits, but instead that he was just not entirely sure of them.
The device likely contains key messages relating to the ordering of Covid lockdowns in 2020 and other important decisions leading up until April 2021.
An ally of Mr Johnson: “It is not true that Boris does not remember his PIN number, it is just that he does not have 100 per cent confidence he remembers it. Separately, the government has found its own version of the PIN.”
The Cabinet Office declined to comment on whether the passcode had been found, saying only that work to help Mr Johnson retrieve the messages was ongoing. A spokesperson said: “In-line with the process set out by the court, the Cabinet Office has provided all of the requested material to the inquiry.”
The former Tory leader was advised not to access the phone again on security grounds while serving as PM in May 2021, after it emerged his number had been freely available online for 15 years.
Whitehall officials were known to be trying to securely retrieve the messages on the phone, which is being held by the ex-premier’s lawyers. There were concerns the contents could be wiped if the wrong combination of numbers is entered.
Boris Johnson repeatedly at odds with Sunak government over Covid inquiry— (PA Archive)
However, The Times reported that the device was last accessed in December 2021 after Lord Geidt, then the PM’s ethics adviser, asked for messages relating to an investigation about the funding of the refurbishment of the Downing Street flat.
If accurate, the report would suggest that the phone has been opened since Mr Johnson was told to no longer use the mobile. Mr Johnson’s spokesman has been approached about the claim.
But security experts have cast doubt on claims the messages cannot be accessed because of a memory lapse on Mr Johnson’s part – saying the data could likely be retrieved simply by taking out the sim card and putting it in another phone.
Andrew Whaley, senior technical director at Norwegian cybersecurity company Promon, said: “This is a pretty lame excuse.”
He added: “Provided Boris’s WhatsApp is backed up, accessing the data would take minutes. As this is a diplomatic phone, the security measures may very well be different, but even still, It’s not an impossible task by any means.”
Boris Johnson’s ‘Phone 1’ demanded by Covid inquiry— (PA Archive)
Susie Flintham, a spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said the idea of the passcode holding things up was “a complete joke”.
The campaigner said: “No one seriously believes that Johnson’s messages can’t be accessed because he forgot a passcode that he was apparently using last December.”
The Cabinet Office had until 4pm on Monday to hand over the unredacted WhatsApp messages from Mr Johnson’s previous phone after it lost a legal challenge.
Ministers had fought a request from inquiry chairwoman Baroness Hallett to release his uncensored messages, notebooks and diaries, arguing they should not have to hand over material that was “unambiguously irrelevant”.
But the argument was dismissed by the High Court last week. The government has since handed over the rest of Mr Johnson’s documents, except for the messages from the locked phone.
The inquiry is understood to be aware of the efforts to securely extract any potentially relevant content from Mr Johnson’s old phone.
