'WHAT IS SHE TRYING TO HIDE?'
Nicola Sturgeon DELETED all Covid WhatsApp messages, UK inquiry reveals
NICOLA Sturgeon deleted all of her WhatsApp messages from during the pandemic, the UK Covid Inquiry's lead council has confirmed.
Jamie Dawson KC referred to a rundown from the Scottish Government about what WhatsApp messages it could provide to the probe.
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He said: “Under the box ‘Nicola Sturgeon’, it says that 'Messages were not retained, they were deleted in routine tidying up of inboxes or changing of phones … Unable to retrieve messages'.
“So, what that tends to suggest is at the time that request was made Nicola Sturgeon, the former First Minister of Scotland, had retained no messages whatsoever in connection with her management of the pandemic.”
The confirmation of the mass deletions comes after reports in October that Ms Sturgeon and other senior Scottish Government figures had wiped messages, sparking anger at the time from Covid bereaved families and opposition politicians.
The revelation came as Mr Dawson quizzed Scottish Government official, director-general corporate, Lesley Fraser.
Mr Dawson suggested the deletions meant it was therefore a “matter of logic” that “we have no access to the former First Minister of Scotland’s message in connection with the management of the pandemic”.
Mr Dawson went on to say that information provided by the Scottish Government showed then Deputy First Minister John Swinney’s messages were not retained either.
And it emerged Mr Swinney had “an auto delete set up” on his phone.
In her evidence, Ms Fraser admitted that “some WhatsApp exchanges tipped into what I would call ‘banter’”, but argued it was correct that these should be deleted as it is “not relevant for the corporate record”.
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In November, Ms Sturgeon repeatedly refused to confirm or deny that she had deleted messages, claiming the matter was “confidential” - despite First Minister Humza Yousaf and ex-Holyrood Finance Secretary Kate Forbes saying they hadn’t deleted their own messages.
Ms Sturgeon was asked in August 2021 by Ciaran Jenkins of Channel 4 News: “Can you guarantee to the bereaved families that you will disclose emails, WhatsApps, private emails if you’ve been using them .. whatever .. that nothing will be off limits in this inquiry?"
Ms Sturgeon replied: “I think if you understand statutory public inquiries you would know that even if I wasn't prepared to give that assurance, which for the avoidance of doubt I am, then I wouldn't have the ability.
"This will be a judge-led, statutory public inquiry."
The deletions come despite Ms Sturgeon saying in as early as May 2020 that there would be public inquiries into the Covid crisis.
Lawyers for those bereaved by Covid argue that from that point, any records should have been kept.
And in August 2021, Ms Sturgeon gave her “assurance” in a TV Covid briefing that she would disclose messages related to the pandemic in future inquiries.
However, in November, counsel Mr Dawson revealed at an earlier hearing that “generally very few messages appear to have been retained” by around 70 key Scottish Government figures, thought to include Ms Sturgeon and her pandemic official Prof Jason Leitch.
We revealed in December how in 2021, Scottish Government chiefs drew up controversial rules to wipe ministers' WhatsApps every month - after claiming it would be too tricky to keep them.
Officials including Scotland’s most senior civil servant at the time, Leslie Evans, weakened draft guidance which had demanded the storage of entire conversations.
It’s thought the finalised policy for ministers and staff ultimately led to the destruction of potential evidence for the ongoing Covid public inquiries.
In November, Deputy First Minister Shona Robison vowed to hand over around 14,000 messages to the UK inquiry by a legal deadline of November 6, “mostly concerning routine coordination of work and meetings by officials”.
She said these were “mainly WhatsApp messages from various groups and individuals over the period of the pandemic”, and that “messages from ministers and former ministers are included”.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said that despite the government’s internal rules - still in force - he kept his messages, regardless, and these would be handed over.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “This revelation is nothing short of horrifying and shows the lengths that Nicola Sturgeon is prepared to go to in order to prevent justice for Covid-bereaved families.
“Despite giving assurances to keep all correspondence, Nicola Sturgeon has completely broken her promise to the people of Scotland.
“This is nothing short of a shocking betrayal of the people of Scotland who suffered so much during the pandemic.
“Nicola Sturgeon should hang her head in shame.
“The inquiry must take all measures it can to get to the truth - despite SNP obstruction.”
“This revelation is nothing short of horrifying and shows the lengths that Nicola Sturgeon is prepared to go to in order to prevent justice for Covid-bereaved families.
“Despite giving assurances to keep all correspondence, Nicola Sturgeon has completely broken her promise to the people of Scotland.
“This is nothing short of a shocking betrayal of the people of Scotland who suffered so much during the pandemic.
“Nicola Sturgeon should hang her head in shame.
“The inquiry must take all measures it can to get to the truth - despite SNP obstruction.”
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney have huge questions to answer over their conduct in the wake of this devastating revelation.
“By deleting all their WhatsApp messages, they defied the inquiry’s clear instructions from June 2021 that all relevant messages had to be retained.
“Their actions may be illegal and beg a very simple question: what were they trying to hide? Shamefully and outrageously for families of those who died during the pandemic, we may never know.
“Nicola Sturgeon’s reputation, which has been tarnished by a series of scandals in the last year, now lies in tatters.
“Secrecy and evasion were the hallmarks of her government – and this shameful cover-up, which amounts to a digital torching of vital evidence, is the most scandalous example of it.
“Both Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney must urgently answer questions in parliament on this.”
The inquiry also heard that in a group chat, Scottish Government national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch - one of the best-known faces of the Covid response in Scotland - told other officials: "WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual."
A spokesperson for Nicola Sturgeon said: “In the interests of everyone who has been impacted by the Covid pandemic, Nicola is committed to full transparency to both the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries.
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“Any messages she had, she handled and dealt with in line with the Scottish Government’s policies.
“Nicola has provided a number of written statements to the UK Inquiry - totalling hundreds of pages - and welcomes the opportunity to give oral evidence to the Inquiry again this month when she will answer all questions put to her.”
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