Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, is one of 70 Scottish government officials whose WhatsApp messages related to the Covid pandemic were manually deleted, according to The Sunday Mail. This means that the messages cannot be provided to the UK or Scottish Covid inquiries into how the pandemic was handled. Ms Sturgeon’s spokesperson confirmed that she was cooperating with both inquiries. First Minister Humza Yousaf and former deputy first minister John Swinney’s WhatsApp data no longer exists according to UK Covid inquiry documents.
Last week, Scottish ministers faced criticism for not handing over their messages. On Thursday, it was revealed that national clinical director Jason Leitch deleted messages every day during the pandemic. It was discovered that at least 137 WhatsApp groups were used across the Scottish government and its agencies during the pandemic.
Aamer Anwar, the lead solicitor representing members of the Scottish Covid Bereaved campaign group, revealed in an interview with BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show that the Scottish government had not given details of when messages were deleted. He urged the government to determine when the deletion started, who ordered it, and why it was not stopped.
The Scottish government has committed to cooperating with the inquiry and providing any requested material that it holds. Deputy First Minister Shona Robison said that while it is not the culture of the Scottish government to use WhatsApp for decision-making, government decisions must be recorded in the official record. Ms Sturgeon’s spokesperson said that she would continue to provide all information requested by the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries
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