Legal documents published on Thursday show that the messages Mr Johnson has so far given to the Cabinet Office only begin in May 2021, more than a year into the pandemic, according to the Times. The paper says Mr Johnson began using a new phone that month after it emerged his number was available online and that, according to a spokesman, his old phone has been switched off since on the “advice of security officials”. The spokesman added that Mr Johnson has “absolutely no objection whatsoever” to providing content from the old phone if doing so would be possible “without compromising security”.