Covid: Mark Drakeford admits WhatsApp is on his phone

The first minister has clarified that WhatsApp is installed on his Senedd issued phone, after he told the Welsh Parliament he did not use it.

But Mark Drakeford said he does not use the app to regularly send messages.

The Welsh Labour leader had been challenged to correct the record by Welsh Conservatives.

On Tuesday he said that some government figures may have deleted messages during the pandemic.

He told the Senedd that he did not use "deletion arrangements" and would not know how to do so.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies welcomed the correction of the record from the first minister, but said questions remained about how many messages were lost in the early stages of Covid.

He had written to the first minister after he obtained a screenshot of which, Mr Davies said, demonstrated the first minister had a WhatsApp account.

WhatsApp messages between UK officials and ministers have been a key part of recent evidence heard by the Covid inquiry.

In Scotland SNP ministers have been embroiled in a row over whether messages have been deleted.

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• What is the UK Covid inquiry and how long will it take?

On Tuesday Mr Drakeford said: "I know, in my case, I've never had any deletion arrangements on the phone, because I would have no idea how to make it happen. I don't use WhatsApp either."

In a letter to the presiding officer, Elin Jones, the next day, he said he would "like to clarify that I have WhatsApp downloaded on my Senedd-issued mobile phone.

"I do not use it regularly to send messages."

"I reiterate that the Welsh government did not use informal means of communication to make decisions during the pandemic, in sharp contrast to the evidence the UK Covid-19 inquiry has taken in recent weeks."

A spokesman for the Welsh government said it continues "to co-operate fully with the UK Covid-19 inquiry and will disclose all material requested, including WhatsApp messages".

On Tuesday Mr Drakeford that as soon as his government was aware that the inquiry would wish to have material disclosed to it, "no instruction of any sort was issued in the Welsh government that material should be deleted".

"So as soon as we knew that the inquiry wanted something, there's no deletion beyond that point."

But he said many colleagues working for the Welsh government "will have had devices with deletion instructions already on them".

"Deletion may have taken place."

The first minister's official spokesman later added that "staff were regularly reminded of the need to maintain and retain robust records relating to decisions taken throughout the pandemic".

In a statement Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said: "It is welcome that the first minister has corrected the record after not being clear in the Senedd yesterday.

"However, more questions remain about how many Welsh government devices used WhatsApp during the pandemic and by who.

"Crucially we need to know how many were deleting messages in the early stages of Covid when life and death decisions were being made in Wales, especially over care home testing."