The Government is heading for a bitter court battle with the Covid-19 public inquiry in a last-ditch bid to prevent the release of Boris Johnson's unredacted WhatsApp messages and papers.
The Cabinet Office was given until 4pm today to hand over a trove of the shamed ex-PM's WhatsApps and notepads to the Covid inquiry after days of wrangling.
Baroness Heather Hallett, who chairs the inquiry, demanded un-redacted messages between January 2020 and February 2022, along with ministerial diaries and notebooks - warning officials could face criminal proceedings if they didn't comply.