Labour’s hypocrisy over deleting electronic messaging

Today Anas Sarwar writes:

This appears to be a deliberate act to destroy evidence. Shameful.

referring to SNP leaders deleting WhatsApp messages, in line with UK Cabinet practice and prior to any instructions not to do so, in 2022.

He forgets perhaps this in 2019:

Labour’s general secretary deleted emails about how the party handles anti-semitism complaints, according to a BBC investigation. The Panorama probe uncovered messages Jennie Formby sent to Jeremy Corbyn, his top spin doctor Seumas Milne and chief of staff Karie Murphy. They related to her concerns about the make-up of Labour’s National Constitution Committee, which considers disciplinary matters and has the power to expel party members.

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/labour-general-secretary-jennie-formby-deleted-emails-about-antisemitism-claims-panorama-probe

Or this from 2023:

Jeremy Corbyn’s chief of staff attempted to “delete all information” from her iCloud account accessible on her Labour Party laptop related to a controversial report into Labour’s antisemitism crisis, the High Court has heard.

Karie Murphy later insisted she had forgotten information, including the controversial 800 page report itself, had been stored on her iCloud account which was linked to her work laptop when it was removed.

https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/corbyns-chief-of-staff-deleted-all-information-on-leaked-labour-antisemitism-report/

Or this, also in 2023:

Labour’s Rachel Reeves has been branded a “hypocrite” for taking a business class British Airways flight to New York. The shadow chancellor, who is visiting the US to “promote Labour’s economic plans”, sat in a “luxury” seat costing around £4,000. Ms Reeves posted a picture of her ticket on Sunday alongside a promise that Labour will “restore our economic dignity at home and abroad”. But the shadow chancellor quickly deleted the post, which revealed she was in seat 3K, at the front of business class on the Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rachel-reeves-new-york-first-class-flight-b2343360.html

7 thoughts on “Labour’s hypocrisy over deleting electronic messaging”

  1. The only body known to be using WhatsApp for government business was that under Boris Johnson.
    Jamie Dawson KC’s observations at the Covid Inquiry were selectively seized upon to commence this propaganda campaign, which has now mutated to a smear campaign against SG Ministers and civil servants.
    Notably ignored from this session at the Covid Inquiry was the response from SG’s representative Geoffrey Mitchell KC – WhatsApp was not part of the culture within Government but there was a clear policy that should messages contain important data then the relevant record had to be transferred to the Electronic Records and Document Management (eRDM) System.

    If there is any “evidence” to be examined, it is in the eRDM, not destroyed, and Sarwar KNOWS this – The only thing that is shameful here is his pretence that he does not.

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  2. Sarwar: ‘This appears to be a deliberate act to destroy evidence. Shameful.’ No, this is shameful attempt to confuse, conflate and smear.

    From the Guardian on 12 October 2021: ‘Cabinet policy obliges ministers to delete instant messages’ (with my emphasis):

    (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/oct/12/cabinet-policy-ministers-delete-whatsapp-messages )

    ‘Ministers and CIVIL SERVANTS ARE REQUIRED BY POLICY TO SET INSTANT MESSAGING CHATS TO DELETE AUTOMATICALLY, it has been revealed, as a judicial review over the government’s use of self-destructing messages was given the go-ahead.’

    And: ‘At a high court hearing in London on Tuesday, it was revealed that the Cabinet Office’s “information and records retention and destruction policy”, disclosed in response to the Citizens application for a judicial review, OBLIGES OFFICIALS TO DELETE INSTANT CHATS.’

    ’The policy says: “Instant messaging is provided to all staff and SHOULD BE USED IN PREFERENCE TO EMAIL FOR ROUTINE COMMUNICATIONS WHERE THERE IS NO NEED TO RETAIN A RECORD OF THE COMMUNICATION. Instant messages history in individual and group chats MUST BE SWITCHED OFF AND SHOULD NOT BE RETAINED ONCE A SESSION IS FINISHED. If the content of an instant message is required for the record or as an audit trail, a note for the record should be created and the message content saved in that.”

    It’s worth remembering that civil servants working for the Scottish Government are part of the UK ’s Civil Service and bound by the latter’s rules.

    In a subsequent ruling of the England’s High Court, the BBC News website on 29 April 2022 reported: ‘Ministers’ use of WHATSAPP AND PRIVATE EMAIL ACCOUNTS FOR OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS DOES NOT BREAK THE LAW, the High Court has ruled.’ And ‘also ruled that THE USE OF AUTO-DELETE SOFTWARE WAS NOT UNLAWFUL.’

    Despite mendacious attempts to conflate matters, the above legal judgements on the use of WhatsApp – to whatever degree it was used and for what purpose by different governments in the UK and their officials – together with the Cabinet Office policy of auto-delete, are wholly different matter from any deliberate deletion AFTER a do not delete instruction is issued by a legality constituted inquiry.

    Mr Sarwar and his advisors will know this perfectly well but trust that smears aggregated and amplified by the BBC and mainstream media in Scotland – without the above context – will gain his party votes and that’s trumps all.

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    1. All of those prosecuting this smear campaign know full well of both WhatsApp policy in place at HMG and the Oct 21 High Court ruling it lawful – That includes Kieran Andrews of the Times, who deliberately constructed the Jason Leitch article to imply he as a civil servant was doing something underhand, and David Wallace-Lockhart of BBC Scotland who subsequently amplified the story, as did John Ferguson of the Sunday Mail when he constructed the Nicola Sturgeon “EXCLUSIVE”.
      Again BBC Scotland amplified this with the opening line “WhatsApp messages sent by Nicola Sturgeon relating to the Covid pandemic were manually deleted from her phone, a newspaper has reported” – Note the “sent” rather than “replied” or “read” to imply her originating the exchange, and avoiding all mention of eRDM policy.

      The hypocrisy of this propaganda campaign is that the orchestrators are seeking to criticise those in SG who complied with HMG policy for exchanges with their officials, to reduce the embarrassment of those who obviously did not, Messrs Johnson, Cummings, etc., etc..

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  3. Unlike the UK and Scottish governments, the Labour Welsh government has decided not to hold its own public inquiry into the covid pandemic. Does it not suggest Welsh Labour has something to hide?

    https://www.partyof.wales/covid_in_care_homes

    “Plaid Cymru has asked for evidence that informed Welsh Government decisions around testing for patients being discharged from hospital into care homes, but this information is being withheld by Welsh Government.

    Welsh Government state this is on the basis it forms part of a package of information being sent to the UK Covid inquiry, but Mabon ap Gwynfor MS, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and care, has pointed out that it may be “years” until this evidence is scrutinised via the Inquiry.”

    Will Welsh Labour’s ‘package of information’ include WhatsApp messages?

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    1. What makes you think the Welsh government policy on WhatsApp was any different to SG ?
      This is the danger of the orchestrated propaganda game being played here, we are being encouraged to suspect everybody else was as unprofessional as Boris Johnson and have something to hide.

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      1. I have read the UK Covid Inquiry had not issued a Notice under Section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005 to the Scottish government. The KC in their legal team who disclosed the issue about WhatsApp, was reported in The Guardian to have said the Scottish Government had suddenly asked for a Notice under Section 21?
        As a KC they would have known that would be the response.

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        1. The S21 became necessary when the Inquiry requested in September the actual messages, as opposed to the summary in June.
          The problem that transpired was content of personal and familial nature in the messages themselves.

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