Downing Street backs home secretary’s call for agencies to have access to WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging apps

Downing Street has reiterated that the government would like to see police and intelligence agencies given access to messages on WhatsApp and other encrypted social media services, despite widespread doubts as to whether this would be practicable.

It came as Theresa May used a trip to Scotland to stress the need for police forces to work closely together to prevent terrorist attacks like that in Westminster last week.

Meeting officers during a visit to a police station in Glasgow to discuss counter-terrorism in the wake of the Westminster attack, the prime minister said she wanted to see “cross-fertilisation across police forces” over terrorism.

“As we look to dealing with terrorism, we need a multi-faceted approach,” she said. “Police Scotland is the second-biggest force in the UK, with huge capabilities and capacity, and working with other police forces across the UK to help to keep us safe.”

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In London, May’s spokesman was asked about comments on Sunday by the home secretary, Amber Rudd, about access to encrypted messages following reports that Khalid Masood, who killed four people outside parliament before he was shot dead, sent a message on WhatsApp a few minutes before he launched his attack.

Government plans to ban end-to-end encryption on such services was dropped from the last year’s Investigatory Powers Act amid widespread opposition from the tech industry and the likes of David Davis, now the Brexit secretary.

Asked precisely what the government wanted from social media and tech companies, and whether ministers were seeking again to ban encrypted messages, May’s spokesman said Rudd would meet representatives from the firms on Thursday.



“I’m not going to sit here and get into the precise details of what the home secretary is looking for,” he said.

“What she has been clear on is that we believe that there is more that social media companies can do to help us in the fight against terrorism and she wants to sit down and reach an agreement with them that improves the current situation.”



He added: “What the home secretary said yesterday is: where there are instances where law-enforcement agencies wish to gain access to messages which are important to an investigation, they should be able to do so.”

Asked about concerns that watering down encryption could compromise confidential but entirely legitimate web-based traffic in areas such as e-commerce and banking, the spokesman said: “Let’s wait for the talks.”

He said: “A broad government position would be that these are companies which have fabulous technical expertise, are world-leading, and where they can do more to assist we would like them to do so.”

May’s announcement came as part of a symbolic visit to Scotland before she triggers article 50, the formal process for leaving the EU, on Wednesday.



The prime minister is due to hold a private meeting with Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, later on Monday, at which the pair are expected to discuss Sturgeon’s demand for a second independence referendum before Britain leaves.

In a speech, May stressed the strength of the union and pledge to protect Scotland’s interests, as well as those of the rest of the UK, when Brexit talks get under way.

Asked what May hoped to get from the talks with Sturgeon, the prime minister’s spokesman told reporters: “The PM will be pointing to the significant areas where there is agreement on what we wish to secure from the article 50 process.

“She’s been clear that government has been listening throughout, and it will be a case of setting out how we can all move forward together to get the best for the whole of the United Kingdom.”