Humza Yousaf quizzed over Covid WhatsApp cover-up claim

Humza Yousaf has been urged to accept that Scottish government ministers could have broken the law by deleting WhatsApp messages requested by the UK Covid Inquiry.

Senior figures, including the first minister's predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, have been accused of erasing data.

The Scottish government said it would submit 14,000 messages by Monday.

Mr Yousaf said he has not removed any messages and that all of his underacted files would be handed over.

He said he expected all ministers and officials to have retained and to submit all relevant information as requested.

During First Minister's Questions, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross likened a Scottish government records policy which advises removing some messages after a month to "building a bonfire to destroy the evidence".

He claimed it was "absolutely clear that the SNP brought in an auto-delete policy" after Ms Sturgeon had confirmed there would be a Scottish Covid inquiry in August 2021 to allow ministers to "cherry-pick" information that could be submitted.

The Moray MSP accused the Scottish government of treating the inquiries and bereaved families with "contempt".

He asked: "Does Humza Yousaf accept that if Nicola Sturgeon or any government minister has destroyed WhatsApp messages relevant to the inquiry, they would be breaking the law?"

Mr Yousaf - who served as health secretary from May 2021 before becoming first minister in March 2023 - insisted Ms Sturgeon had acted with full "accountability and transparency" during the pandemic, holding regular media briefings.

"When the former first minister stood up, did those media briefings, spoke to the public, took questions from the media, it was the opposition that wanted to stop that from happening in the first place," he said.

The Scottish inquiry issued a "do not destroy" order at the beginning of August 2022, meaning it could be an offence for witnesses to have deleted Covid-related messages after that date.

In June this year, Mr Yousaf told MSPs that all requested material would "absolutely" be handed over to the Covid inquiries in full.

The Scottish government's mobile messaging policy, which was introduced in November 2021, suggests that conversations relating to government business should be deleted at least once a month.

However, it also makes clear that before anything is wiped "salient points of any business discussions and/or decisions" should be transcribed and saved in the official record system.

The Scottish government's records management policy, introduced in February 2021, says these records should be kept as long as necessary to fulfil the Scottish government's business and legal obligations.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar asked how many of the 70 Scottish government figures cited by the UK inquiry had complied with do not destroy orders.

Mr Yousaf said he did not know what requests had been made to ministerial colleagues, nor what evidence they had provided due to confidentiality rules.

Mr Yousaf said: "It is absolutely my expectation, the expectation of the permanent secretary, that potentially relevant information is kept, recorded in the appropriate way and handed over to the inquiry when it is requested.

"That is why we are in the process of handing over 14,000 messages."

Mr Sarwar said it was "shameful" that the government was abdicating responsibility.

Mr Yousaf also apologised to bereaved families for any "anxiety or distress" the government may have caused by the issues with submitting evidence.

He added: "I can give them an absolute assurance that we are here to co-operate fully with the inquiries."

The Scottish government said it was asked to hand over WhatsApp messages related to the pandemic in September.

The inquiry has asked to see the WhatsApp messages of 70 officials, medical chiefs, ministers and former ministers, and identified 137 messaging groups that could contain relevant information.

However, the inquiry's counsel, Jamie Dawson KC, said "very few" of the messages it was interested in appeared to have been retained.

This week the government was issued a formal legal order, under section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005, to release the material, which ministers said was necessary due to data privacy concerns.

Mr Ross cited Section 35 of the Inquiries Act, which sets out scenarios in which it could be a criminal offence to suppress, conceal or destroy evidence which could be relevant to the inquiry.

Senior members of the Scottish government's leadership team from during the pandemic - including Ms Sturgeon and former deputy first minister John Swinney - have been accused of wiping messages or using an auto-delete function.

Both have refused to deny removing messages and said they will comply with the inquiries.

Ms Sturgeon said she had "nothing to hide".

Former finance secretary Kate Forbes said she retained all relevant correspondence relating to the pandemic and had shared it with the Covid inquiry.

The MSP, who left government in March, said her submission included all WhatsApp messages though she denied being a member of any of the 137 group chats identified by the inquiry.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson - who served as Net Zero, Energy and Transport secretary during the pandemic - told BBC Scotland News he kept his WhatsApps too.

Senior medics have also been the subject of press reports about their WhatsApps.

National clinical director Jason Leitch has been accused of deleting messages every day during the pandemic, while chief medical officer Prof Sir Gregor Smith is alleged to have used an auto-delete function on WhatsApp messages.

Both were approached for comment.

WhatsApp announced it was introducing the auto-delete function in November 2020, eight months after the pandemic was declared, suggesting messages before then could be recovered unless manually deleted.

The UK Covid Inquiry has also raised "particular concern" about an overdue witness statement from Scotland Secretary Alister Jack.

Counsel to the inquiry, in a document published last week, said the Tory minister was asked to hand the evidence over in July, with a deadline set for 18 August.

An extension was agreed on 1 September, but the counsel said the statement "remains overdue".

A spokesperson for Alister Jack said he would submit the evidence "shortly".

"The secretary of state's representatives are in contact with the Inquiry," they added.