Humza Yousaf to give evidence at UK Covid Inquiry as SNP ministers face growing secrecy row

Humza Yousaf will appear at the UK Covid Inquiry

Humza Yousaf will give evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry today amid a mounting secrecy row involving his predecessor as First Minister.

Opposition parties ramped up the pressure on Nicola Sturgeon yesterday after text messages shared with the inquiry showed her encouraging a public health expert to “ignore protocol” at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Yousaf, a Cabinet minister throughout the covid crisis, will be asked about his involvement in the decision to enter a national lockdown and temporarily suspend civil liberties.

He played a central role in the Scottish response to the pandemic after he was appointed Health Secretary following the Holyrood election in May 2021, when Jeane Freeman stood down.

The SNP leader is expected to appear at the Inquiry from 2pm onwards after he appears at the weekly session of FMQs at noon.

The UK Covid Inquiry was set-up to examine how Westminster and the devolved government responded to the global health crisis which erupted in 2020.

It has held hearings in Edinburgh focusing on Holyrood decision-making for the last two weeks.

The inquiry has been dominated so far by allegations of secrecy after it was revealed full transcripts of WhatsApp conversations between senior SNP ministers and public health officials were often deleted.

Jason Leitch, the national clinical director, and Professor Gregor Smith, the chief medical officer, both routinely told colleagues to delete their WhatsApp conversations at the end of each day during the pandemic.

Both officials have insisted they were simply following Scottish Government protocols agreed at the time.

Sturgeon has yesterday challenged to reveal the full extent of her use of a private SNP email address when speaking with government advisers during the pandemic.

Labour wrote to the country’s top civil servant to ask what action will be taken over the “inappropriate” use of electronic communications for government business.

It comes after the inquiry heard yesterday how the then first minister told a top health expert in 2020 “don’t worry about protocol” when sharing a covid briefing note.

The text message exchange between Sturgeon and Professor Devi Sridhar saw the former SNP leader offer the use of both her SNP email address and official first minister account for correspondence.

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