Attorneys for Covid request Sturgeon's messages

nicola sturgeon

In the Covid-19 inquiries, attorneys for bereaved families have demanded clarification regarding former first minister Nicola Sturgeon's WhatsApp messages.

Ms. Sturgeon lacked any pertinent informal correspondence, according to attorneys working on behalf of Scottish ministers.

The bereaved's attorneys countered that it should be up to inquiry officials to determine what information is relevant.

This could include private messages, emails or diaries regarding the handling of the pandemic.

The Scottish Covid Bereaved group's lead attorney is Aamer Anwar.

In additional legal submissions to the UK Covid Inquiry, the group has demanded the provision of all unredacted WhatsApp messages and other pertinent materials.

The Covid inquiries are intended to help government officials and the public work out what ministers got right and wrong - before, during and after the pandemic.

In a new statement, Mr Anwar said a request "should be made of Scottish ministers to provide to the inquiry any communications held by informal means in order that the primary relevance test can be carried out by this inquiry".

He said: "The government is, and should be, answerable to the people, this applies to both the Scottish government as well as the UK government.

"We were advised by the Scottish ministers' counsel that Nicola Sturgeon has advised them she does not have such informal messages - i. e.  WhatsApp messages.

"Today we have sought full clarity from the UK and Scottish Inquiry as to what has happened to Ms Sturgeon's WhatsApp messages, and why they are not being disclosed in their entirety.

Members of the 'Scottish Covid Bereaved' group are introduced by solicitor Aamer Anwar to Stuart Gale KC at Hilton Carlton Highland Hotel, Edinburgh, for their meeting with Stuart Gale KC, Senior Counsel to the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry
Lawyers Aamer Anwar and Stuart Gale KC met the Scottish Covid Bereaved group in May.

"Ms Sturgeon and other Scottish ministers should be in no different of a position to that of Mr Johnston, Rishi Sunak or Matt Hancock - the job of establishing the relevance is a matter for this inquiry.

"We have said before and say it again, no individual, no matter how powerful, can be allowed to interfere with the pursuit of truth, justice and accountability in this inquiry.

"Those who lost their lives to Covid-19 deserve nothing less. ".

Ms Sturgeon will give evidence to the Scottish inquiry at a later date, alongside former deputy first minister John Swinney, health secretary Jeane Freeman and Scotland's former chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood.

It comes as a transparency row erupts between the UK inquiry and the Westminster government after WhatsApp submissions from senior aides had been redacted.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson said he would give unredacted WhatsApp messages dating back to May 2021 directly to the Covid inquiry.

This will bypass the UK government which has refused to hand them over.

The Cabinet Office has launched a legal challenge to the inquiry's demand for texts from the former prime minister and officials, arguing that many of the messages are irrelevant to the investigation.

It said they needed to protect the privacy of ministers and others.

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