UK ministers accused of ‘government by WhatsApp’ in court

Transparency campaigners have accused ministers of conducting "government by WhatsApp" in the UK's third-highest court, arguing that the use of self-destructing messages on insecure platforms is unlawful and undemocratic.

Ministers and government officials could be stopped from sending "disappearing messages" after failing to keep public records of exchanges on personal phones, email and WhatsApp.

Some of those communications addressed matters of considerable public importance relating to the pandemic response and the awarding of government contracts.

From Tuesday, two separate cases will be heard over three days, with a decision at a later date.

The first case is brought by transparency campaigners the Citizens (TC) and non-profit Foxglove over the use of disappearing messages and auto-delete functions. The second case, brought by the Good Law Project, focuses on private devices.

On Tuesday, the high court heard that the prime minister, Boris Johnson, has used personal WhatsApp accounts to communicate "critical decisions".

Ben Jaffey QC, representing TC, said the messages could serve as a "public record for future societies" and that deletion does not adhere to "meaningful and parliamentary democracy", allowing for "scrutiny through inquiries or court proceedings".The campaigners are also seeking an end to a Cabinet Office policy of deleting messages sent on personal devices, in some cases using functions that auto-delete messages after seven days, which they argue breaches the Public Records Act.