A leading lawyer representing Scots who lost loved ones to covid has demanded to know who in the Scottish Government allowed potential evidence to be deleted before it could be handed to an inquiry.
Senior figures in Holyrood including Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon are at the centre of a growing secrecy row after it was alleged WhatsApp messages discussing the response to the pandemic were wiped from phones.
The UK Government has already shared thousands of text messages and emails with the inquiry which expose the tensions at the heart of the response to the public health emergency in 2020."We went through a battle with Boris Johnson and the Cabinet Office, they lost that battle with the UK Inquiry, and the information was provided that exposed a culture of impunity, a culture of denial, and total chaos at the heart of No 10.
"If there was a position of auto-delete, if there was a situation where ministers and senior civil servants were deleting their materials, it should have been ordered to be stopped," he added. Documents given to the UK Covid Inquiry show the former first minister is among a string of senior government figures who claim the data no longer exists.
Anwar continued: "We wanted to know what lay at the heart of the decision making. It's not the official record we're interested in, we want to know what were the discussions. "The SNP’s culture of secrecy and unaccountability has been utterly corrosive and it is wholly unacceptable that the public inquiry should be obstructed by the Scottish Government’s failure to provide answers.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Scottish woman who lost wife to Covid blasts UK government at inquiryA woman who lost her partner to Covid has hit out at UK Government officials who held illegal lockdown parties, saying there was a “culture of…
Read more »
Scottish Government Denies Deletion of WhatsApp Messages During Covid-19 PandemicThe Scottish Government has denied reports that Jason Leitch deleted WhatsApp messages every day during the Covid-19 pandemic and insisted all guidance was followed. Ministers have rejected the suggestion and insisted that all record management guidance was followed, adding that thousands of documents have been sent to the probe.
Read more »
Scottish Woman Criticizes UK Government Officials for Illegal Lockdown PartiesA Scottish woman, Jane Morrison, who lost her partner to Covid, expressed her frustration towards UK Government officials who held illegal lockdown parties, stating that there was a culture of contempt for ordinary people throughout the pandemic. Morrison highlighted the impact of the pandemic on her personal life and criticized the government's lack of political comprehension and disregard for the best interest of the people.
Read more »
Scottish Government accused of withholding WhatsApp messages from Covid InquiryThe Scottish Government has been accused of not providing any WhatsApp messages to the UK Covid Inquiry, raising concerns about transparency and accountability in decision-making during the pandemic.
Read more »
Scottish Government Official Accused of Deleting WhatsApp Messages During PandemicJason Leitch, the national clinical director of the Scottish Government, has been accused of regularly deleting his WhatsApp messages related to the coronavirus pandemic. The UK Covid Inquiry has criticized the Scottish Government for failing to hand over any of Leitch's informal communications. The government denies the allegations and states that it followed official guidance on record retention.
Read more »
Key Covid-19 WhatsApp Messages Deleted by Scottish Government OfficialsDocuments reveal that Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf, and John Swinney manually deleted their WhatsApp messages related to Covid-19. Only Jeane Freeman provided incomplete messages. The revelations raise concerns about transparency and cooperation with the Covid inquiries.
Read more »