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The government fired the CMA’s chair. Then it deleted the messages

WhatsApp records were set to disappear, the Department for Business and Trade confirms

By Justin Cash
The use of private messaging apps for government business has been thrust into the spotlight again
The use of private messaging apps for government business has been thrust into the spotlight again Photo: Richard Baker/Getty Images

The government’s bid to oust the chair of the UK’s competition regulator included messages to his personal WhatsApp that were subsequently deleted, Financial News can reveal.

Late on 21 January, the Department for Business and Trade announced that former Boston Consulting Group partner Marcus Bokkerink would leave the Competition and Markets Authority and that former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr was taking over the antitrust watchdog.

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