Boris Johnson had passed on uncensored WhatsApp messages to the Corona Investigation Committee. The committee had previously demanded that the government pass on the news – and even threatened criminal consequences.
The government wanted to have the courts examine whether it could be forced to do so. Critics think Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fears Johnson's WhatsApp correspondence could cast a bad light on his own role as finance minister in the pandemic. Johnson, on the other hand, is said to have ambitions to return to the top of government.