Scotland’s national clinical director Jason Leitch has reportedly deleted electronic messages which cannot be handed to official inquiries related to the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. According to The Times newspaper, Prof Leitch deleted his WhatsApp communications every day, meaning none were left to preserve when a “do not destroy” notice was issued. The Scottish government said it had been asked by the UK Covid-19 inquiry to provide all material related to decision making. “It is not the culture within Scottish government to use WhatsApp for decision making – our records management policy states clearly that government decisions should be recorded in the official record,” a spokesperson said. “The UK inquiry has that material from the official record.”
Earlier, the Scottish government was accused of not handing over WhatsApp messages to the UK Covid inquiry. Jamie Dawson KC, the counsel to the inquiry, said it was “surprising” that so many messages from politicians and officials had been deleted. Margaret Waterton from the Scottish Covid Bereaved Group told BBC Scotland’s The Nine it was “incredulous” that important WhatsApp message had been deleted. The UK Covid inquiry is investigating the UK’s response to and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a Scottish inquiry also now under way that is specifically looking at decisions taken by the Scottish government.
Prof Leitch became a well-known face during the pandemic as he was a regular figure by Nicola Sturgeon’s side at Covid briefings, explaining the science behind decisions. He was widely praised for his communication skills. Scottish government insiders have said that decisions were not made over WhatsApp. There may have been discussions over the app, but they say that would then have to be formalised through official channels. However, if some of these messages no longer exist, then that’s not something any Covid inquiry will be able to judge for itself
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More