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Empoword Explains: Nicola Sturgeon at the Covid Inquiry

Lucy Beetson
Nicola Sturgeon

Scotland's former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been in the spotlight while giving evidence to the UK Covid Inquiry.

Lucy Beetson  

Former First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, became tearful as she told the UK Covid Inquiry there was a “large part” of her that wishes she had not been Scotland’s first minister during the pandemic. 

The Inquiry saw Sturgeon face questioning from lead counsel, Jamie Dawson, over her decision-making during the pandemic.

Deleted WhatsApps

Counsel began by questioning Sturgeon over her failure to provide WhatsApp messages sent and received during the pandemic.  

Despite telling Channel 4 that she would provide these to the inquiry in 2021, the hearing saw Sturgeon admit that she deleted WhatsApp messages from the pandemic. 

Sturgeon claimed that messages were deleted over data and security concerns, and that those deleted would not have been relevant to the investigation. 

She insisted that WhatsApp was not used for any decision making during the pandemic. 

Sturgeon was heckled as she entered the inquiry over the deleted messages and has been receiving criticism for not being transparent when providing evidence. 

Sturgeon is Emotional 

Sturgeon was visibly upset over her testimony at different points throughout the hearing.

When asked by counsel if she used the pandemic for political gain, Sturgeon became tearful as she said the idea that in the “horrendous” days and weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic she “was thinking of a political opportunity … is just not true.” 

This followed Micheal Gove’s hearing at the Covid Inquiry, in which he claimed it would be “naïve” to think that Sturgeon did not exploit occasional opportunities to promote Scottish independence. 

Sturgeon was seen tearing up again when giving evidence on whether the decisions she made could have been better in preventing deaths during the pandemic. 

However, members of the Scottish COVID Bereaved group have accused Sturgeon of “crocodile tears”, with their lawyer adding that it was a “polished performance.”

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack also criticised Sturgeon during his hearing at the Covid Inquiry on Friday. 

Jack implied Sturgeon did in fact politicise the pandemic and that her tears during the inquiry were fake. “I think Nicola Sturgeon could cry from one eye if she wanted to,” he said.

Sturgeon’s Regrets  

Reflecting on her decision making, Sturgeon told counsel: “Of the many regrets I have, probably chief of those is that we didn’t lock down a week, two weeks, earlier than we did.” 

Sturgeon also admitted that there were flaws and deficiencies in the guidelines for care homes and testing during the pandemic. 

She said: “I do not think we got everything right around care homes and I deeply regret that.” 

Sturgeon went on to add, “I will carry regret at the decisions and judgments I got wrong, but I will always know in my heart and in my soul that my instincts and my motivation was nothing other than trying to do the best in the face of this pandemic.” 

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Featured image courtesy of Scottish Government on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.

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