The Covid Inquiry into Scotland’s handling of the pandemic has sparked multiple headaches for the SNP today, with evidence Nicola Sturgeon bypassed Government rules when receiving key information about the virus.
A screenshot from Ms Sturgeon’s Twitter messages showed the then-First Minister messaging Professor Devi Sridhar, advising her to send information to her private SNP email address rather than her official First Minister email address.
The decision, if followed through by Ms Sridhar, would have meant the briefing wasn’t subject to Freedom of Information rules and could be kept secret.
The Twitter message, which suggests the former First Minister was running her own personal account, saw Ms Sturgeon reply to the offer of a draft document: “That would be very helpful”.
“(Don’t worry about protocol – tackling the virus more important than that – and I’ll handle any issues on that front).
“You can send it to me privately at [irrelevant & sensitive]@snp.org and/or officially at firstminister@gov.scot.”
Tory MSP Stephen Kerr has slammed the apparent transparency bypass, responding: “The more you dig, the bigger the cover-up becomes”.
He demanded to know: “What are the SNP hiding?”
The revelations come as Nicola Sturgeon faces a criminal investigation into the deleting of her WhatsApp messages ahead of the statutory inquiry.
The Scottish bereaved families group have instructed lawyers to prepare a police complaint, with lawyer Aamer Anwar warning he will also ask the ICO to investigate “any potential breaches of the law”.
A message from Scottish Civil servant Ken Thompson revealed that in 2021 he advised: “I feel moved at this point to tell you that this chat is FOI-recoverable”
Mr Leitch replied “Officially yes. But literally no one does”.
“Have a drink in your hands at ALL times. Then you’re exempt. So if someone comes over and you stand, lift your drink.”
Mr Yousaf later replied: “That’s what I’ve been doing at the other events I’m at…!”
Labour deputy Scottish leader Jackie Baillie MSP has now called on Mr Leitch to resign over the claims he helped Mr Yousaf dodge mask rules.
