During the UK Covid Inquiry, former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has denied presiding over a culture of secrecy. Despite admitting to deleting her WhatsApp messages during the pandemic, Sturgeon affirmed that decisions were not made via informal messages and that her actions were in line with government policy. Sturgeon also rejected claims that she sought “political conflict” during the crisis, apologizing if she was unclear about providing material to the inquiry in a previous answer. The Scottish Covid Inquiry is being held separately from the UK-wide inquiry, to which Sturgeon had promised to provide all relevant communications, while the UK inquiry was told that Sturgeon appeared to have retained no informal messages related to pandemic management.
During the inquiry, Sturgeon became emotional as she denied the Scottish government sought to make light of Freedom of Information (FOI) rules. She also described maintaining a “bond of trust” with the public as of “paramount” importance, and that “openness and transparency” were a priority during the pandemic. Despite no minutes being kept for the Scottish Government Resilience Room and gold command meetings, Sturgeon denied any claim that the Scottish cabinet’s power had been usurped during her leadership.
Sturgeon expressed regret that the Scottish government did not introduce a lockdown one or two weeks earlier, but denied that any of her decisions had been influenced by political considerations. The former SNP leader stated that she was motivated solely by the desire to minimize the harm of the virus. She also mentioned that difficult decisions were made based on “public health reasons” and insisted that deleting informal messages would not mean the Scottish or UK inquiries were deprived of relevant material.
Sturgeon’s evidence before the inquiry attracted media attention due to her tearful demeanor. She portrayed managing the Scottish government during the pandemic as a traumatic experience, with her voice faltering and several times wiping away tears throughout the hearing. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack is due to give evidence to the inquiry on Thursday
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