The government is facing a three-day hearing at the London High Court after being accused of using “disappearing messaging apps” like WhatsApp to conduct business.

The case was brought by independent journalism organisation The Citizens and supported by non-profit Foxglove, who say that democracy cannot work if decisions made by politicians are lost to “secret WhatsApp chats” and not open to scrutiny.

According to Foxglove, on its first day the court heard how ministers and officials – including the prime minister – have “repeatedly used personal phones, email and WhatsApp” to carry out government businesses.

On Tuesday, the organisation said, it was revealed to the court that important decisions about the organisation of Test and Trace, the lack of testing in care homes, and securing a strong supply of ventilators for the UK was discussed over WhatsApp.

In a witness statement, chief operating officer for the Cabinet Office Sarah Harrison also admitted that messages from Boris Johnson’s mobile prior to April 2021 are no longer available.

“In April 2021, in light of a well-publicised security breach, the Prime Minister implemented security advice relating to a mobile device. The effect was that historic messages were no longer available to search and the phone is not active,” said Harrison.

The Good Law Project has also brought forward a legal challenge being heard alongside the case by The Citizens and Foxglove.

It alleges that the government is breaching its own policies and has been unlawful, saying that it has a duty under the Public Records Act to make arrangements for the selection and safe-keeping of records which ought to be permanently preserved.

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