New Home Secretary Priti Patel, pictured last week in London, is having discussions with Britain's Five Eyes intelligence allies about combating cyber threats and having better access to encrypted messages

British spies want 'backdoor' access to encrypted messages on social media to prevent terror threats and child abuse.

Officials from the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – known as the 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance – are meeting in London to discuss being able to get 'lawful access' to WhatsApp discussions that could be linked to crime.

It comes after the London Bridge terrorists used WhatsApp to discuss plans which British officials say helped prevent the 2017 plot that killed eight people from being identified.

One such technique suggested by the UK intelligence agency GCHQ is to allow its agents to be 'silently' added to chats or calls so they can observe the conversation without being detected.