Cabinet Office and Boris Johnson at war over Covid inquiry information

Chair extends deadline after Cabinet Office claims not to have copies of messages or notebooks that former PM insists he shared

The Cabinet Office and Boris Johnson are at loggerheads over a trove of information requested by the Covid inquiry, as officials said they did not have the material but allies of the former prime minister insisted he had shown it to government lawyers.

The cache is at the centre of a huge battle after the official inquiry, chaired by Heather Hallett, asked the Cabinet Office to provide Johnson's appointment diaries, notebooks and WhatsApp messages.