SNP ministers must urgently “come clean” over whether they have deleted any messages relevant to the Covid Inquiry, the Scottish Conservatives have demanded.
The call from the party’s chief whip Alexander Burnett comes after Douglas Ross challenged Humza Yousaf at First Minister’s Questions over the SNP Government’s failures to hand over any messages to the UK pandemic inquiry.
Lead Counsel on the Covid inquiry, Jamie Dawson KC said: “Subject to one exception to which I will revert, at present, the Scottish Government has provided the inquiry with no WhatsApp or other informal messaging material, either in its own possession, or in the possession of the individuals whose individual rule 9 requests are being handled by the Scottish Government.”
The Times have also reported that national clinical director Jason Leitch deleted his WhatsApp messages every day during the pandemic.
Alexander Burnett says that this revelation and Humza Yousaf’s “pitifully weak” excuses to Douglas Ross for not providing all relevant messages to the inquiry – as he promised to do in the Scottish Parliament in June – display a “rotten culture of secrecy within the Scottish Government”.
He says a lack of answers mean that all Scottish Government ministers and relevant senior officials should be “fully transparent” as to whether messages on WhatsApp – or any other messaging platform – have been deleted.
The chief whip says that should include Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney and Jeane Freeman who were at the forefront of the Scottish Government’s response to the pandemic.
He has also demanded an urgent ministerial statement from the SNP Government on the subject in Holyrood next week, saying bereaved families deserve to know if and why messages have been deleted, given that would hinder the work of the inquiry.
Scottish Conservative chief whip Alexander Burnett MSP, said: “There is a rotten culture of secrecy within the Scottish Government. The revelation that they have not handed over any messages to the Covid Inquiry will only make grieving families and the wider public wonder what the SNP have to hide.
“Humza Yousaf’s responses were pitifully weak when Douglas Ross challenged him in Parliament as to why he has refused to hand over these messages.
“Since then, we have heard allegations that Jason Leitch – arguably Scotland’s most well-known civil servant – was apparently deleting messages every day on WhatsApp during the pandemic.
“That comes across as completely reckless and would potentially even break the law. These latest revelations mean SNP ministers must come clean and be fully transparent on whether the actions reportedly taken by Jason Leitch were replicated by them.
“That must include Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney and Jeane Freeman who fronted up the Scottish Government’s Covid response as well as the current First Minister and his team of ministers.
“The SNP cannot try to run away from this issue, which is why I have demanded a ministerial statement on the matter at the earliest opportunity in Parliament. There are grieving families at the heart of this, who deserve to know if and why crucial messages were deleted, because that would undoubtedly hinder the work of the inquiry.
“They must agree to deliver this statement and Humza Yousaf must guarantee to honour his previous commitment to hand over any messages to the Covid inquiry – and hand them over in full.”