"Hey, I just met you and this is crazy - but here's my number, so call me, maybe:" While Carly Rae Jepsen at least seems to be somewhat aware that giving out one's number isn't always the best idea, accusations made against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggest that he has been less picky.

Recent reports on his sending text messages via unofficial, maybe even insecure channels, for example to entrepreneur James Dyson or Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman led the opposition to call for an investigation into the premier's communication habits.

After Johnson's relatively successful coronavirus policies made him a somewhat smaller target for criticism, the opposition senses an opportunity to attack the premier's "WhatsApp government."

"There is one rule for those who have the prime minister's phone number, and another for everybody else," opposition leader Keir Starmer said in parliament.

Other lawmakers soon followed suit, speculating how things would work out differently if the premier's number was handed out to steel workers whose jobs are under threat, or the thousands of health care workers who have been toiling to their limits during the pandemic, but are only to receive an increase in salary of 1%.

"Dodgy deals, tax breaks for their mates," Starmer shouted at Johnson. "Sleaze, sleaze, sleaze. And it's all on his watch."

And it seems not a day goes by in London without new affairs coming to light: Transparency International recently published a report on public procurement in the period from February to November 2020.

The anti-corruption campaigners found that 73 coronavirus-related contracts with a total value of 3.7 billion pounds showed evidence of corruption or nepotism - that amounts to about one-fifth of all contracts during that time.

"The way the UK Government handled bids for supplying personal protective equipment (PPE) and other Covid-19 response contracts appears partisan and systemically biased in favour of those with political access," Transparency International found.

Health Minister Matt Hancock is often at the centre of such scandals.

Only recently, it was made public that he holds shares in a business that is owned by his sister - and which secured a contract from the National Health Service (NHS) in 2019.

Now it's Johnson himself who's at the centre of attention, after he reportedly told the founder of household appliance firm Dyson he would not pay extra tax if he came to Britain and made ventilators.

"I'll fix it," the premier promised James Dyson via text message.

Johnson has refused to admit to any wrong-doing.

"I make absolutely no apology at all for shifting heaven and earth and doing everything I possibly could, as I think any prime minister would in those circumstances, to secure ventilators for the people of this country," Johnson said.

This is in line with a tone that has been all too common within the governing Conservative Party when being accused of a lack of transparency and nepotism since the beginning of the pandemic: In times of crisis, immediate action is needed, they say.

"Businesspeople are contacting MPs all the time, constituents also contact me on my phone. I think that in a modern democracy it's very good that people actually can have direct access to ministers and people who are taking responsibility," Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News.

But the case is worrying in other regards.

This is not the first time that private text messages from the prime minister have been made public. The BBC broadcaster, for example, published has published parts of Johnson and Dyson's chat record.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Downing Street eventually opened investigations into a possible leak. But even when communicating with controversial figures, like the Saudi crown prince, who's accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi, Johnson apparently disregards security measures, falling back on commercial providers.

His WhatsApp use is a "perennial problem," a top official was cited as saying by the Daily Telegraph newspaper. "The problem with Boris is that he replies to everyone," another high-ranking source says.

According to reports, the British premier has come under pressure to change his number, which he's had for over 10 years - especially since he seems to be giving it out without a second thought.

Boris, however, refused, according to the reports.

 - dpa