UK COVID Inquiry: Scottish First Ministers Accused of Deleting WhatsApp Messages
The Facts
The Sunday Mail has named former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, along with Scotland's current first minister Humza Yousaf, as two of 70 Scottish governmental figures alleged to have manually deleted WhatsApp messages concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outlet claims that, according to documents belonging to the legal team behind the current UK inquiry into the COVID pandemic, the "majority" of WhatsApp messages on the phone's of key Scottish ministers and other governmental staff had "not been retained."
The Spin
Narrative A
Proper records of communication between ministers and officials must be kept for the purposes of governmental accountability. The erasure of WhatsApp messages has blurred the whole process of the COVID inquiry, raising extensive questions over who made what decisions as well as how they were reached. If government actions cannot be accurately accounted for, those at the heart of Westminster and Holyrood should face more intense scrutiny over the pandemic.
Narrative B
While the revelations coming out of the COVID inquiry are currently making headlines, the media will likely lose interest by the time it reaches the meaningful point of proposing changes to governmental process. Inquiries are designed, not necessarily with the aim of holding to account, but certainly with the intention of determining recommendations to aid preparedness and improve structures and cultures in the medium- to long-term. For this inquiry to be meaningful, the UK should focus on rapidly and effectively implementing any recommendations reached by the committee.
