UK Cabinet Office Under Scrutiny for Withholding Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp Messages

Back in 2021, this paper asked for the WhatsApp messages between then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Special Advisor, Dominic Cummings. This was, at first, refused with the claim that the Cabinet Office did not hold the information. Further Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were then denied based on arguments of cost (it would come to more than £650); national security (letting people know the PM used WhatsApp posed a security risk); and that the question did not fall under the remit of the FOI Act. In the end, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) condemned the Cabinet Office in relation to their wholesale FOI refusal. It found the Cabinet Office had failed to conduct comprehensive searches for communications relating to the prorogation of Parliament in September 2019 involving Cummings, despite FOI requests for such.

https://bylinetimes.com/2023/06/02/years-of-secrecy-unravel-uk-cabinet-office-under-scrutiny-for-withholding-boris-johnsons-whatsapp-messages/

Government By WhatsApp: Departments’ Secrecy Around Advisors’ Messages Exposes Johnson Administration’s Unaccountable Power:
https://bylinetimes.com/2021/06/30/government-by-whatsapp-departments-secrecy-around-advisors-messages-exposes-johnson-administrations-unaccountable-power/

Government Stalling on Releasing Boris Johnson WhatsApp Messages
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/04/27/government-stalling-on-releasing-boris-johnson-whatsapp-messages/

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