MPs launch legal action to stop PM deleting messages

Lawyers have lodged a case to stop Boris Johnson and his ministers from deleting crucial messages - Credit: PA

Legal action is being brought forward to stop Boris Johnson and his ministers from deleting WhatsApp messages and other communications that would show how they took decisions during the pandemic.

A letter drawn up by lawyers, and seen by The Independent, warns of “concern that ministers and officials are conducting government business via communication services such as text message, Signal and WhatsApp”.

If successful, ministers would be forced to start archiving conversations they have via text message to comply with their legal duty to make official business accessible to freedom of information requests.

MPs supporting the legal action are worried messages in which crucial decisions about lockdown were made could be being deleted, making a future inquiry into government mistakes harder.

“Recent weeks have exposed more fatal errors by the government, including the delay adding India to the red list which allowed the Indian variant to take root in the UK,” said Caroline Lucas, one of the MPs supporting the move for transparency.

“The inquiry must have full access to communications behind these decisions, including any relevant text messages between ministers and civil servants, to find out what lay behind them.

“Failure to do so would risk meaning vital evidence is missed and crucial lessons go unlearned.”

Martha Dark, director of legal group Foxglove, which is bringing the case, told The Independent that the government did not have the proper arrangements in place and was in “clear breach of the law”.

“We are in an unprecedented national emergency. All records relating to government business, including WhatsApp messages, text messages, Signal messages must be kept for consideration under the Public Records Act. There are no arrangements currently in place to ensure that happens,” she said.

“The only hope we have of holding power to account or even simply maintaining the historical record is transparency.”