Covid Evidence Was Destroyed by the SNP

The confirmation of organised cover-up at the Covid Inquiry is an utter scandal and raises serious questions that the First Minister cannot now avoid.

“Every nationalist is haunted by the belief that the past can be altered.”

So wrote George Orwell in the essay this newsletter’s name is taken from. He was writing about how, for a nationalist, the past is not about facts but about storytelling. Events that do not fit the national myth are ignored and events that did not happen are imagined.

Even Orwell could not have foreseen the shameless attempt by Scotland’s nationalist establishment to rewrite history and to protect their own myth.

The myth in question here is the idea that the SNP Government made better, different decisions to the UK Government during the pandemic. As I have written before the reality is that they made the same decisions and arguments as the UK Government on herd immunity, banning public events, closing schools, protecting older people and washing hands. If you doubt that for a moment watch this.

It is important to begin with this because it is the motive for what follows.

Today evidence at the covid inquiry confirmed that Nicola Sturgeon and other SNP Government officials destroyed WhatsApp messages relating to the management of the pandemic.

First of all, this is a betrayal of a clear promise to the bereaved families. Nicola Sturgeon explicitly committed to keeping these messages, indeed she was characteristically indignant at having even been asked the question of whether she would keep these records. Sturgeon knew she should have kept these, she knew they were of interest to the judge-led inquiry, but she destroyed the evidence nevertheless.

Most importantly, of course, the destruction of evidence means that the families of the bereaved will now never know the truth of why decisions, like releasing infected people into care homes, were made.

And it was not just Nicola Sturgeon’s destruction of evidence that came up at the inquiry. Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government, also has confirmed he deleted his message. One infuriating exchange that was not destroyed was shared with the inquiry. Here it is:

Here Ken Thomson, one of the most senior civil servants in the Scottish Government, reminds participants in a chat that the messages they write are covered by Freedom of Information. Two minutes later Jason Leitch says “WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual.”

They are not just destroying evidence to protect themselves, here they are engaging in banter about it. Narrating your own bad behaviour in this way is astonishing - and astonishingly stupid.

Politics can be so full of synthetic anger. Amid the usual screeching should not lose sight of the fact that the destruction of evidence that these individuals knew they had a legal and moral duty to retain is an outrage.

Some initial questions that I think should be asked:

1. In October last year, when this story first emerged, Humza Yousaf promised that he had asked officials to do an urgent review to make sure that all records were kept. Did he get reassurances that messages were kept or was he told that both his predecessor and his Clinical Director had deleted messages? If he was told that the records had been destroyed, why didn’t he tell the public? If he was told that records were destroyed, has he asked for any disciplinary action to be taken? If not why not?

2. What action will be taken against the civil servants who not only destroyed records but chatted about how they knew these records should have been retained? Are we now operating in an environment in Scotland where civil servants destroy evidence that they knew would be requested by an inquiry and keep their jobs?

3. In addition to the officials we know of, when Yousaf asked his officials to look into record keeping, did he discover that other officials have destroyed their evidence? Is Jason Leitch alone or did others destroy evidence? If so, will he disclose who and how many have destroyed evidence? If not, why not? If he hasn’t asked the question, it would be extraordinary.

4. Why did Nicola Sturgeon break her promise to the bereaved? Appeals to procedures and being advised that the messages could be deleted is not a defence. She gave an explicit undertaking to keep these messages.

5. Who made the decision that the chief figures in managing the pandemic in Scotland should destroy evidence? When was that decision made? Will anyone be held accountable by Humza Yousaf for this? This is his responsibility.