Texting times

After the education email furore earlier this week, discussions are underway in ministerial offices about private emails: are they subject to the freedom of information act? The answer is probably yes, which may not be what the government wants to hear.

But the problems that this will cause are nothing compared to what might happen next, when attention moves on to text messages. Whitehall buzzes with texts: Ministers text SpAds; SpAds text journalists; journalists text ministers, and so on. Often the messages are short and inconsequential, but not always. There is the potential for even greater embarrassment than exists with emails.