Scottish Government in WhatsApp WhatsApp Scandal – Allegations swirl over deleted Covid message trails involving top officials, including ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Current First Minister Humza Yousaf denies wiping anything and vows full cooperation with UK and Scottish Covid inquiries.
Yousaf Insists He’s Keeping the Evidence
Yousaf declared, “I have kept and retained all of the WhatsApp messages and am more than ready to hand them over to the Covid inquiry.” He added government business was rarely conducted over WhatsApp, pushing back against claims Sturgeon and others manually deleted pandemic-related chats.
‘Do Not Destroy’ Order Ignored?
The Scottish Covid inquiry slammed down a “do not destroy” order back in August 2022 forbidding deletion of related messages. Despite this, recovery of WhatsApp data has been painfully slow. According to UK inquiry’s counsel Jamie Dawson KC, only a small fraction of messages from about 70 government figures have been preserved.
Privacy Concerns & Political Outrage
- Scottish government requested a legal order under section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005 to comply with data laws after submitting 13,000 documents.
- Opposition leaders, including Tory Douglas Ross and Labour’s Jackie Baillie, slammed the government for a lack of transparency and accused Yousaf of misleading parliament about electronic records.
- Baillie called for a direct statement to MSPs to clarify the mess.
Questions Linger Over Accountability
As probes into missing WhatsApp records drag on, debate rages over government transparency, data privacy, and the true handling of critical pandemic communications. The scandal keeps pressure mounting on Scotland’s leaders to come clean.
