The government should investigate claims that former prime minister Liz Truss’s phone was hacked while she was foreign secretary.

Private messages between Ms Truss and foreign officials, including about the Ukraine war, were reported to have fallen into foreign hands by The Mail on Sunday.

The paper said that the hack was discovered during the leadership campaign but the news was not made public.

The government said it had a strong cyber-threat protection.

The government didn’t talk about the security of individuals.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove told Sky News that he did not know the full details of what happened, but that the government took these issues “incredibly seriously”.

The Mail on Sunday claimed that Boris Johnson and Simon Case suppressed information about the hack in order to impose a “news blackout”.

According to the newspaper, private messages between Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng, who was chancellor when she became prime minister, were also discovered by the alleged hack.

It’s not clear how the hack happened, but opposition parties pounced on the issue.

“There are important national security issues raised by an attack like this by a hostile state which will be taken very seriously by our intelligence and security agencies,” said the shadow home secretary.

There are serious security questions around why and how this information has been leaked or released, which must also be investigated.

According to the Mail on Sunday, agents suspected of working for Russia were responsible for the alleged hacking, but the British Broadcasting Corporation has not been able to verify this.

The alleged hack had not been made public earlier because of concerns raised by the Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesman.

If it turns out that this information was kept from the public, then it would be unforgivable.

The Mail on Sunday reported some information, but the government refused to comment on it.

“Ministers are given regular security briefings and advice on protecting their data and avoiding cyber threats,” the spokesman said.

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