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Scotland’s ex-leader Nicola Sturgeon held back her emotions during the Covid inquiry while refuting claims of manipulating the pandemic for her political gain.
The former SNP leader became emotional as she denied accusations of deliberately provoking conflicts with Boris Johnson’s government in order to advance the cause of Scottish independence.
She maintained that she did not have any political motives, as she faced questioning about her WhatsApp messages where she expressed a desire for public disagreements with Mr. Johnson.
Ms. Sturgeon ultimately acknowledged that she had deleted her own WhatsApp conversations with officials and ministers, but downplayed their significance.
The ex-prime minister stated that she did not heavily rely on casual messaging, and insisted that her staff’s conversation about erasing messages was simply playful banter.
She became visibly emotional while discussing her feelings of being “overwhelmed” at certain points during the crisis. She expressed a desire that she had not felt this way, but ultimately she wanted to be the best first minister.
Nicola Sturgeon, former first minister, has arrived at the inquiry regarding Covid.
Ms Sturgeon denied accusations that the government had used the pandemic as a tool to advance Scottish independence, claiming that doing so would have been detrimental to people’s livelihoods and a betrayal of the Scottish population.
During the Covid inquiry, she stated that her consideration of Scottish independence had decreased significantly during the pandemic.
The previous leader of SNP stated that she will firmly declare that there were no political motives behind any decisions made, or any influence from the constitutional debate.
Michael Gove, a member of the Tory cabinet, has previously alleged that the Scottish government was intentionally creating tension with the Westminster government during the pandemic.
Correspondence between Ms Sturgeon and her chief advisor Liz Lloyd revealed that they had conversed about a potential conflict with Boris Johnson’s government regarding the furlough program. It was revealed that Ms Sturgeon referred to Mr Johnson as a “ridiculous jester”, while Ms Lloyd expressed her desire for a productive dispute.
The previous leader of the SNP, holding back emotions, informed the investigation: “The thought that during those terrible days and weeks, I was considering political gain” was “not accurate”. She also stated: “It was not the truth.”
The minutes of the June 2020 Sturgeon cabinet meeting revealed that her ministers discussed the possibility of utilizing the Covid crisis to increase support for Scottish independence.
However, Ms Sturgeon referenced a letter from her former constitution secretary, Mike Russell, to Mr Gove in 2020, stating that the Scottish government had halted all efforts towards an independence referendum.
Nicola Sturgeon leaving the Covid inquiry hearing
During the Covid crisis, Ms. Sturgeon expressed regret when questioned about her statement to a Channel 4 reporter, in which she promised complete transparency by allowing access to her WhatsApp messages. She acknowledged that she could have been more explicit.
She acknowledged deleting these casual messages, but claimed it was in accordance with official guidance as all important points were documented on her government’s official record.
In the midst of the uproar surrounding erased messages, Ms. Sturgeon admitted that WhatsApp had been excessively used for communication within the Scottish government during the crisis.
However, she maintained that she only exchanged messages on WhatsApp with a small number of individuals, such as her key ally Ms Lloyd and the current first minister Humza Yousaf, who previously served as health secretary.
The former SNP leader disregarded messages from high-ranking government employees regarding the deletion of WhatsApp messages, stating that they were not serious.
Nicola Sturgeon has confessed to deleting her WhatsApp messages while under investigation for the handling of Covid.
In August 2020, Ken Thompson, the director-general for strategy of the Scottish government, stated that “plausible deniability” is his middle name. He also advised his colleagues to be aware of the location of the “clear chat” button on WhatsApp.
According to Ms Sturgeon, the conversation does not seem to involve serious discussions about the decisions made, but rather a casual conversation between government officials.
Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, stated that Ms. Sturgeon’s actions have severely damaged trust in the SNP. He also accused the Scottish government of promoting a culture of hiding information and concealing mistakes.
The leader of the Scottish Conservative party, Douglas Ross, stated that the inquiry hearings revealed Ms Sturgeon’s dishonesty and deceit. He also accused the former first minister of deliberately destroying important evidence.
One member of the Scottish Covid Bereaved group expressed that they were not moved by Ms Sturgeon’s tears as they responded to her testimony. Pamela Thomas, who lost her brother James Cameron, stated that she believes they are incapable of telling the truth or being transparent.
In the midst of this, Ms Sturgeon denied allegations of being secretive during the pandemic. She stated that she did not have complete authority to make decisions on her own, as she faced scrutiny over her exclusive meetings with top cabinet members referred to as “gold command” meetings.
Jamie Dawson, the lawyer representing the inquiry, asked her if she preferred to keep decision-making processes in the dark. Ms. Sturgeon strongly disagrees with this statement and denies having complete freedom to make decisions, as she believes that would not have been appropriate.
Ms. Sturgeon stated that minutes were not recorded during the gold command meetings. She explained, “These meetings were not intended for decision-making, thus they were not recorded in the same manner as cabinet meetings.”
During the inquiry, she defended small meetings and stated that she did not have much tolerance for the idea of everyone wanting to attend. She also mentioned that there was a tendency for a large number of people to want to be in the same room as her.
Ms Sturgeon acknowledged that using a SNP email account to communicate with public health expert Professor Devi Sridhar about government matters was a mistake. She stated, “In hindsight, it was not the best decision.”
Ms Sturgeon expressed remorse for not implementing a lockdown sooner, stating that she wished it had been done “a week, two weeks” earlier than the UK government under Mr Johnson. She added that this was one of her many regrets.
Source: independent.co.uk
