Why hasn't Boris Johnson handed over his phone to the Covid inquiry?
The News Agents
Global
4.1 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 12 July 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
'I love deadlines ... I love the whooshing sound they make when they go by.'
Monday 4pm was the cut off for Boris Johnson to hand over his phone and Whatsapp messages to the Covid Inquiry. 48 hours later that phone still hasn't reached its end destination.
Johnson says he's cooperating. The phone is with his lawyers. But the inquiry is waiting...
Meanwhile the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has delivered a shot across the bows to his old boss accusing those who criticise the civil service of 'self-defeating cowardice'.
On today's episode we look at the political fall out and we also ask how an organisation like the BBC should cover a story about itself from the inside.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity. |
| 0:09.4 | This is a global player original podcast. It's just terrible. I just think this thing has got to stop. |
| 0:17.3 | I think I've probably said enough to be honest, but I never ever want to go through this again. |
| 0:23.6 | And we're all waiting, you know, we're all just waiting for it to play itself out. |
| 0:30.6 | What do you think should happen next? Because the scandal just keeps going and going. |
| 0:35.6 | I think, do you know what, I'm just going to be like you. |
| 0:38.2 | I'm just going to wait and see. |
| 0:39.5 | I've got to go and do my radio show now. |
| 0:41.7 | That is a BBC presenter being doorstepped by a BBC reporter |
| 0:46.1 | outside a BBC building, |
| 0:48.8 | talking about another as yet unnamed BBC presenter |
| 0:52.2 | before this particular BBC presenter |
| 0:55.1 | goes into the BBC to present his BBC radio show. |
| 1:00.0 | Just when he thought it couldn't get any more convoluted, |
| 1:02.8 | any more meta, any more, let's face it, weird, |
| 1:06.5 | this has become a news organisation |
| 1:09.0 | trying to do a news story about its own people. |
| 1:13.4 | Welcome to the newsagents. |
| 1:18.3 | The Newsagents. |
| 1:20.6 | It's Emily. It's Lewis. |
| 1:22.5 | And it is John. And we're at Newsagents HQ. |
| 1:25.0 | And we'll be coming back to the BBC story a little later |
... |
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