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Today in Focus

What is the UK government hiding from the Covid inquiry?

Today in Focus

The Guardian

News, Daily News

4.65.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The government has launched legal action to prevent the independent Covid inquiry demanding disclosure of thousands of WhatsApp messages. What does it have to hide, asks Aubrey Allegretti. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Guardian.

0:08.9

Today, how an inquiry into the COVID pandemic became a fight over Boris Johnson's WhatsApp messages.

0:21.8

Who's in the lioness squad?

0:23.6

Will inflation go down?

0:25.1

Why are their roadworks on my commute?

0:27.0

From sport to business to culture, Google helps millions of people in the UK access a variety of

0:35.5

quality news. Whether you're looking for analysis of the Big Match at Wembley or today's top

0:40.6

story from Westminster, Google connects you to a range of publishers so you can read all about it.

0:46.7

Learn more at g.co.s-supportingnews-uk

0:57.4

It's not that well appreciated outside Westminster, but over the past few years there's been a

1:03.6

massive shift in the way that the government operates.

1:09.5

And actually, it mirrors a shift in our own lives.

1:15.0

So I've not been in Westminster for very long, maybe three, four or five years maximum,

1:20.3

but in that time, I think the shift towards people using

1:24.7

instant messaging and WhatsApp has been huge.

1:29.6

Orbery Elegrity is a senior political correspondent with the Guardian.

1:32.6

Initially, you would still have called or texted an MP, but COVID really, I think, put the sort of

1:40.6

rocket underneath it because you couldn't speak to anyone in person anymore.

1:44.0

And so you had to rely on quicker forms of digital communication to relay

1:49.2

quotes or thoughts instantly.

1:52.0

And all this information is sort of blasted from one phone to another or potentially to a group.

1:58.1

So quickly that it means that that information can sometimes get out of control and nobody can

...

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