Nicola Sturgeon acknowledged her failure to adequately document important conversations regarding the Covid pandemic when questioned during the UK’s Covid inquiry. This was in response to allegations that certain decisions were excessively centralized and kept confidential.
The previous leader of Scotland, who oversaw the country’s actions during the pandemic, fought back emotions as she confessed to finding the stress of the crisis “extremely overwhelming” and occasionally regretting her role as leader.
“I was the initial leader at the time of the outbreak,” she stated with a trembling voice. “There’s a significant part of me that regrets being in that position, but I was and I strived to fulfill my role as first minister to the best of my ability during that crisis.”
During intense questioning by Jamie Dawson KC, the inquiry’s counsel, Sturgeon acknowledged that she had made several mistakes in her approach to policymaking and in some of the significant choices made during the crisis.
Those included:
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Acknowledgement that important conversations with her most trusted advisors in private “gold command” meetings should have been documented.
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She expressed remorse for not informing individuals about the initial outbreak in Scotland, which included 38 cases connected to a Nike conference in Edinburgh in March 2020. This oversight could have possibly shaken the public’s trust.
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She admitted that she made a mistake in assuring journalists in August 2021 that she would keep all her WhatsApp messages, despite knowing that she had been regularly deleting them.
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It was not appropriate for her to share her private email address with public health expert Devi Sridhar from the SNP.
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She mistakenly believed that her top medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, could continue in her position despite confessing to breaking lockdown regulations by visiting her vacation home.
Sturgeon firmly denied Dawson’s repeated insinuations that she purposefully tried to centralize and dominate important decisions. She explained that any errors were accidental, due to the fast pace and importance of the unfolding events.
She stated that throughout the Covid pandemic, she did not make any decisions that aimed to exclude people from being involved.
“I attempted to take charge and set an example. I made sure to bear my fair portion, sometimes intentionally taking on more than my share, of the responsibility for making tough decisions. I believed this was necessary as a first minister.”
Dawson questioned Sturgeon about her abrupt resignation as first minister last February, citing her statement that it was due to the overwhelming pressures of the Covid crisis. He inquired about why her regular meetings with the “gold group” were not documented and why only a select few ministers and advisors were involved.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Sturgeon had neglected to invite Kate Forbes, her former finance secretary, to the gold group meetings that occurred regularly before cabinet meetings. Forbes stated that she was not aware of these meetings until early 2021.
Sturgeon refuted any deliberate exclusion of Forbes, but acknowledged that the meetings were conducted with key advisors to influence the policies and decisions she intended to present to the cabinet.
At a certain juncture, Dawson stated that Sturgeon assumed a strong control over decision-making, resulting in her taking charge of decisions regarding the management of the pandemic.
During the inquiry on Tuesday, it was revealed that Sturgeon and her deputy first minister, John Swinney, made the decision to close all Scottish schools in March 2020 without informing the cabinet. Dawson presented a WhatsApp conversation between Sturgeon and her chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, where they seemed to have reached a mutual decision to implement a public alcohol ban before a cabinet meeting.
Sturgeon denied the claim that the Scottish cabinet was merely a formality to approve her decisions. She stated that cabinet meetings were strong and held actual authority. She also maintained that the inquiry had all the necessary information to understand the process and reasoning behind policy decisions.
She confessed that she found gold group meetings more enjoyable, as she didn’t have much tolerance for large meetings with an excess of attendees. She explained, “I preferred to have individuals with the appropriate expertise present during gold meetings, in order to make the most informed decisions.”
The investigation has also looked into potential instances where the UK and Scottish governments worked against each other in order to strengthen their respective campaigns for or against Scottish independence.
When Dawson inquired about Sturgeon’s intentions to take advantage of the crisis for political purposes and expressed her belief that Boris Johnson was unfit to lead the UK during this time, Sturgeon’s emotions became evident.
Dawson suggested that she may have believed she was the most qualified leader for Scotland, given her experience as health secretary during the previous swine flu outbreak. She stated that, at the time, she had faith in Johnson’s efforts as prime minister.
During the beginning stages, I occasionally felt daunted by the magnitude of the situation,” she admitted with a trembling voice. “Above all else, I felt an immense duty to do my utmost. Therefore, the notion that I was considering a political advantage during those dreadful weeks is simply untrue.”
Source: theguardian.com
