Private emails, public accountability?

The Government does have a policy in place about the use of private emails and messaging, but it is not fit for purpose – not least because it fails to set out when and why it would ever be acceptable for politicians to use their own accounts. 

This is why we were disappointed that in the course of our legal action so far, the High Court and Court of Appeal have both ruled in favour of the Government. If left unchallenged, these decisions will give the green light to Ministers and their advisors to continue using personal phones, private emails and instant messaging services (with messages auto-deleted after 24 hours as standard) to conduct official business.

But this is a matter of upholding transparency and accountability in public life and we are not giving up. We have recently submitted our grounds to the Supreme Court for an appeal hearing, so please watch this space.