Greensill lobbying scandal: More than 100 government phones wiped after users entered wrong PINs

Published

3 years ago

July 11, 2021

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More than 100 government-issued mobile phones had all their data wiped last year after their users entered the wrong PIN.

The Treasury’s IT desk managed to reset 117 of its approximately 2,100 mobile phones in 2020 – including the device belonging to the department’s boss – a response to a Freedom of Information request from the PA news agency revealed.

Texts sent from the phones involved are likely to have been lost.

They include correspondence between the Treasury’s permanent secretary Tom Scholar and former prime minister David Cameron over the Greensill lobbying scandal.

MPs have called for these messages to be released.

Mr Cameron had contacted Treasury officials to ask them to allow the company Greensill Capital, which has since collapsed, to be included in one of the government’s coronavirus loan schemes.

MPs have said publishing the texts is in the “public interest”.

But Mr Scholar has maintained that he is unable to disclose the content of his messages to Mr Cameron, due to his phone having been wiped and questions continue to be raised.

“At the beginning of June last year, (the phone) had to be reset because, under government security as applies to mobile phones, if the password is incorrectly entered more than a few times, the phone is locked, and the only way to unlock it is to reset it,” Mr Scholar told a hearing of the Treasury select committee.

He added: “Resetting it means that the data on it is lost. I knew that when it happened last June, and I am certainly not the only person to whom that has happened.”

Users of government phones are required to change their passwords frequently, however the Treasury has not confirmed how often these changes are required.

The government has recently come under increased scrutiny over its transparency procedures, with the Good Law Project last week announcing that it would take legal action over ministers’ use of private email addresses and WhatsApp accounts to do government work.

In the wake of former health secretary Matt Hancock’s resignation following his breaking of COVID rules with an aide, it had been reported that he and health minister Lord Bethell had used private email accounts to conduct government business.

The Sunday Times reported that Lord Bethell used personal emails to sponsor a parliamentary pass for Mr Hancock’s lover Gina Coladangelo between April and October last year.

Labour has called for an investigation into the matter.

Politics

US SEC expected to deny spot Ether ETFs next month

Published

2 hours ago

April 25, 2024

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US SEC expected to deny spot Ether ETFs next month

Other evidence suggests that the SEC will likely delay the approval of spot Ether ETFs, while Hong Kong will start trading such products next week.

Politics

SNP and Scottish Greens power-sharing deal ends following climate target row

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2024

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SNP and Scottish Greens power-sharing deal ends following climate target row

The SNP has terminated its power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens following a bitter row over its climbdown on climate targets.

It comes after First Minister Humza Yousaf summoned a meeting of his Cabinet – usually held on a Tuesday – this morning following speculation over the future of the Holyrood deal, first struck by his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.

The deal, signed in 2021, was designed to facilitate governing between the two pro-independence parties in Holyrood.

But signs it was running into difficult came after the Scottish government scrapped its commitment to cut emissions by 75% by 2030.

The climate announcement also came on the same day that the prescription of puberty blockers for new patients under the age of 18 at a Glasgow gender identity service would be paused.

It means Mr Yousaf’s administration will now run a minority government at Holyrood.

Politics latest updates – Greens and SNP to hold news conferences

Lorna Slater, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, accused the SNP of an “act of political cowardice” and of “selling out future generations to appease the most reactionary forces in the country”.

“They have broken the bonds of trust with members of both parties who have twice chosen the co-operation agreement and climate action over chaos, culture wars and division,” she said. “They have betrayed the electorate.

“And by ending the agreement in such a weak and thoroughly hopeless way, Humza Yousaf has signalled that when it comes to political cooperation, he can no longer be trusted.”

It is understood the first minister will hold a press conference this morning in the wake of the announcement. The Greens are also expected to talk to the media.

The power-sharing deal with the Greens, also known as the Bute House agreement, brought the party into government for the first time anywhere in the UK.

Named after the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh, it gave the SNP a majority in the Scottish parliament when its votes there were combined with those of the seven Green MSPs.

It created ministerial posts for the Scottish Green Party’s co-leaders Ms Slater and Patrick Harvie.

As well as the watering down of climate targets, the Greens were also dismayed at the pause of puberty blockers in the wake of the landmark Cass review into the landmark Cass review of gender services for under-18s in England and Wales.

Last week the Greens said it would hold a vote on the future of the Bute House Agreement and Mr Harvie urged members to back it so the party could “put Green values into practice” in government.

But in the statement released today, Ms Slater said Green members were now not going to have a “democratic say” on the agreement, adding: “The most reactionary and backwards-looking forces within the first minister’s party have forced him to do the opposite of what he himself had said was in Scotland’s best interests.”

“If they can’t stand up to members of their own party, how can anyone expect them to stand up to the UK government at Westminster and defend the interests of Scotland?”