Apart from delaying damaging disclosures before the next GE, I can't see how they claim a "win" from this. If the govt legal challenge succeeds, it looks like a cover up and the court of public opinion will be seen to have its say in the next cycle of VI polls. If they lose (as the terms of the Inquiries Act 2005 indicate they probably will), damaging revelations will almost certainly leak, and they'll look both incompetent and dishonest.
Either way, the optics will look bad, and although people won't remember the detail, they will remember the stink of a cover up.
How this meant to contribute to a 5th GE victory is, at best, very unclear. Who is advising them, and do they not understand the reputational damage? Truly baffling. Shades of Dom Cummings crossing the road to pick a fight he can't win.
Yes agreed, it's a lose lose. The only persuasive explanation is that what is contained in the messages is so damaging that they're willing to go to any lengths to prevent, or at best delay, their release, even if doing so is also damaging
Yes that's when it was publicised that he'd had his phone number available on the internet for the past 15 years. He still had an obligation under the rules to retain all the messages from that phone though
Are you thinking that he has perhaps deleted all the old messages claiming they were on his old phone or that someone unknown to him has while they had his phone?
Apart from delaying damaging disclosures before the next GE, I can't see how they claim a "win" from this. If the govt legal challenge succeeds, it looks like a cover up and the court of public opinion will be seen to have its say in the next cycle of VI polls. If they lose (as the terms of the Inquiries Act 2005 indicate they probably will), damaging revelations will almost certainly leak, and they'll look both incompetent and dishonest.
Either way, the optics will look bad, and although people won't remember the detail, they will remember the stink of a cover up.
How this meant to contribute to a 5th GE victory is, at best, very unclear. Who is advising them, and do they not understand the reputational damage? Truly baffling. Shades of Dom Cummings crossing the road to pick a fight he can't win.
Yes agreed, it's a lose lose. The only persuasive explanation is that what is contained in the messages is so damaging that they're willing to go to any lengths to prevent, or at best delay, their release, even if doing so is also damaging
I thought Boris Johnson’s phone was taken from him in June 21 by security services? That would explain a gap.
Yes that's when it was publicised that he'd had his phone number available on the internet for the past 15 years. He still had an obligation under the rules to retain all the messages from that phone though
Are you thinking that he has perhaps deleted all the old messages claiming they were on his old phone or that someone unknown to him has while they had his phone?
It's unclear at this stage. The Cabinet Office don't appear to know why they're not included either.
According to the Telegraph he still has his old phone