Nicola Sturgeon at Covid Inquiry Live: Former First Minister at inquiry amid scrutiny around WhatsApp messages
Former First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon is giving evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry amid ongoing scrutiny around the deleted WhatsApp messages.
Keep up to date with every moment with The Scotsman live blog.
Nicola Sturgeon to give day of evidence at UK Covid-19 Inquiry
Nicola Sturgeon is to begin giving evidence at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry amid ongoing scrutiny around the deletion of WhatsApp messages.
The former first minister will give evidence for a full day as the inquiry, before Baroness Heather Hallett, holds hearings in Edinburgh.
Read more here.
When will Nicola Sturgeon appear? How can I watch the former first minister give evidence?
The UK Covid Inquiry is currently holding public hearings in Edinburgh - the first time the inquiry has been held outside of London. Who will give evidence from the Scottish Government? And what will the inquiry focus on?
Read more here.
Key analysis before the main event: The questions former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon must answer - from missing WhatsApp messages, secrecy culture, private emails.
Our Political Editor Alistair takes you through everything you need to know for today.
Read more here.
Sturgeon is in the building
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already arrived at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, around two hours early.
Ms Sturgeon is due to give evidence from 10am. Keen UK Covid Inquiry watchers may remember Boris Johnson pulled a similar trick for his appearance during the London hearings.
Some comment before Sturgeon's cross examination...
First, today's leader column tackles the Scottish Government's "culture of secrecy":
"Given the SNP’s informal policy of “wheesht for indy” – stay quiet about problems and don’t criticise the Scottish Government – had been an open secret for years until Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation opened the floodgates of internal party dissent, it should perhaps be no surprise that she and other ministers deleted WhatsApp messages en masse, even after the Covid Inquiry had asked, in June 2021, that they be retained." - Read more here.
Meanwhile, our columnist John McLellan reckons today "could be the day Sturgeon's independence dream dies".
"The Covid inquiry is exposing Nicola Sturgeon’s reputation as a pandemic leader was a triumph of style over substance." - Read more here.
Finally, Murdo Fraser says the UK Covid Inquiry "is finally debunking the myth of Scottish exceptionalism".
"From claiming Covid had been nearly eradicated to opposition to ‘illegal wars’, the SNP has always tried to make Scotland appear somehow morally superior to England." - Read more here.
Scottish Government's messaging review
At First Minister's Question last week, Humza Yousaf announced his government would commission an external review into the Scottish Government's messaging practices, and the failure to hand over some messages to the UK Covid Inquiry.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government has today provided some more details: “As the First Minister outlined, he has commissioned an externally-led review into the use of mobile messaging apps and non-corporate technology in the Scottish Government.
“This will take particular account of government interaction with statutory public inquiries.
“During this period, we will continue to keep our records management policy under review in line with legislation.
“The external review will inform a wider internal records management policy review.
“More detail on the external and internal reviews will be given in due course.”
Sturgeon is sworn in
Nicola Sturgeon is sworn in. You may not be able to tell from the live stream, but the former First Minister is up on a small stage, in an auditorium full of people.
Sturgeon addresses 'openness' in first questions
Sturgeon is quizzed immediately by lead counsel Jamie Dawson QC on 'informal methods of communication' used by the government during the pandemic
The former FM says: "Openness and transparency with the Scottish public was very important to me from the outset of the pandemic.
"I communicated to the public on a daily basis for a lengthy period of time. We will not have got every decision right and we will have made misjudgements, and there will be undoubtably incidents put to me today where on reflection I will think that we could have been more transparent than we were."
Only a 'handful' of WhatsApp contacts
Sturgeon claims she did not use "informal" means of communication, which she cites as text or WhatsApp messages, for any "meaningful" decisions during the pandemic
She estimates she communicated with only a "handful" of individuals in total using these informal means. Her former chief of staff Liz Lloyd and now First Minister Humza Yousaf are the names she cites
So who is Jamie Dawson KC?
For those wondering just who the lead counsel, Jamie Dawson KC, actually is - and how he got chosen to lead questions throughout this section of the UK Covid Inquiry - we've prepared a little backgrounder on him that you can read here.
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