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Michael Gove flatly refused to deny the report that Liz Truss’ personal phone was potentially hacked by Russian agents, as Labor accused the government of “not taking national security seriously enough”.
Gove, brought back to cabinet this week by Rishi Sunak as equalizing secretary, said he could not discuss potential security breaches, while insisting he had “robust protocols” on such matters.
The Mail on Sunday said agents who hacked into Truss’ personal phone when she was foreign secretary are believed to have accessed secret exchanges with other nations as well as private chats with Kwasi Kwarteng, who later was her chancellor when she was at No 10.
Asked about the claims, Gove said on Sky News’ Sophie Ridge Sunday programme: “I don’t know the full details of what, if any, security breach has taken place. What I do know is that the government has very robust protocols in place to ensure that people are protected, but also that government security and national security are also protected.
Asked about reports that the incident had been covered up by Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, with Truss partly concerned that the revelation could damage her bid to succeed Boris Johnson, Gove said: “I’m sure that Liz, and as foreign secretary, and as Prime Minister she will follow the advice given to her by the intelligence and security communities.
Speaking after Gove, Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Suella Braverman’s return as home secretary from Sunac, just six days after Truss sacked her over security breaches, highlighted a greater lack of seriousness about relation to security.
“All of this just raises questions about how the government doesn’t take national security seriously enough,” Cooper said on Ridge’s show.
“The problem is that the person who should be giving assurances that the government is in control, the person who should be giving interviews this morning about all of this is the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and she can’t do that because she still can’t answer questions about its own serious breaches and security flaws.
Braverman was sacked by the Trust after it emerged that the then home secretary had used a private email to send sensitive government information about immigration policy to a Tory MP. She accidentally copied the message to another MP’s aide, who alerted number 10.
Cooper said Labor wanted answers about whether Braverman was involved in any earlier security breaches and wanted any information disclosed by Case and the Cabinet Office to be sent to parliament’s intelligence and security committee, which oversees security matters.
“We have asked repeatedly whether the Home Secretary used her personal phone to send other government documents,” Cooper said. There are also questions about whether she was investigated or other security leaks.
“It’s just irresponsible. You can’t have a Home Secretary who the Security Service doesn’t trust, who isn’t trusted with important government information.
Asked about Braverman, Gove said the home secretary was a “first-class top-ranking politician”.
He said: “She has admitted a mistake was made. She is working hard to ensure that our borders can become more secure and that policing is more effective. She is a valuable member of the cabinet and someone I admire and like.
In a later interview on BBC1’s Laura Kuensberg’s Sunday Show, Gove appeared to blame the media in part for focusing too much on the Braverman breach and said the mere fact that she was brought back into government should be enough reassurance for the people.
Although he said he did not want to criticize journalists, Gove said it “becomes a distraction if people are asking these questions”.
Asked how people could be sure she was not compromised in her approach to the role, Gove added: “By definition, Suella’s return to office is a sign of confidence from the government as a whole that she is equipped, ready and more than capable of handling the task before her.’/
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