Penny Mordaunt, a key figure in the Covid inquiry, revealed that her attempts to discuss Boris Johnson's deleted WhatsApp messages were ignored by his chief of staff. She later found out that messages from Michael Gove had also disappeared. Additionally, it was disclosed that Downing Street suspected Matt Hancock of leaking details to the media. The inquiry also heard that women's voices were marginalized in key coronavirus policy meetings. Mordaunt highlighted the high cost of investigating the vanished messages, contrasting it with a local repair shop's quote of £60 for a phone case. The disappearance of Johnson's Covid WhatsApp messages has become a focal point of the inquiry.
Penny Mordaunt says Boris Johnson's Covid WhatsApp messages went missing https://t.co/BSbMmPFtt5
Penny Mordaunt says it would cost £40,000 to determine why Boris Johnson’s Whatsapp messages mysteriously vanished from her phone. Owners of a local repair shop expressed their frustration, having quoted £60 plus a free case https://t.co/RZGPa7TVvT
NEW: Boris Johnson’s Downing Street was so “macho and egotistical” that women’s voices were heard for as little as 10 minutes in five hours of meetings during a key week of coronavirus policy, the Covid inquiry has heard. https://t.co/7DqufWcloL
Downing Street suspected Matt Hancock was the “chatty rat” who leaked details to the media of the second lockdown, private messages newly-released by the Covid inquiry have revealed 📱 @janemerrick23 reports https://t.co/YZag81iz6y
Jeez. Penny Mordaunt has told the Covid inquiry that a series of WhatsApp messages with Boris Johnson mysteriously disappeared from her phone, and that Johnson’s then chief of staff ignored 14 attempts by her to arrange a meeting to discuss the matter https://t.co/J1eX9fdWug
Penny Mordaunt says she contacted Boris Johnson's chief of staff 14 times about Johnson's deleted WhatsApp messages but was ignored, and then told she would have to pay for any investigation herself. She later discovered that messages from Michael Gove had also disappeared https://t.co/ZxnzWPWyd1