Humza Yousaf denies breaching ministerial code by misleading MSPs over Covid WhatsApp saga

Humza Yousaf has denied misleading MSPs over when the Scottish Government was first told to hand over WhatsApp messages to the UK Covid-19 inquiry, prompting accusations that he is treating the Scottish Parliament with “contempt”.

The First Minister said he “absolutely refuted” claims from the Conservatives and Labour that he had deliberately sought to conceal the fact that the inquiry had requested the disclosure of WhatsApp messages as long ago as February.

A timeline published on Thursday evening at the request of the inquiry revealed that on 2 February its officials had asked the Scottish Government for correspondence relating to the pandemic, including WhatsApp messages.

During First Minister’s Questions last week, Mr Yousaf told MSPs that “the messages were asked for in September, just a matter of weeks ago”.

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The apparent contradiction was seized upon by Labour and the Conservatives, who said the lack of transparency was an insult to people who had lost relatives to Covid.

Pressed on Thursday to admit that he had purposefully misled MSPs, Mr Yousaf rejected the accusation, saying that the Scottish Government had merely interpreted the requests for messages from the inquiry “too narrowly”.

Asked to admit he “didn’t tell the truth” by Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, Mr Yousaf said: “I absolutely refute that. Clearly, I was talking about specific WhatsApp groups.

“[What] I do accept fully from the inquiry is that we have interpreted their requests too narrowly and subsequently … we have then supplied 14,000 messages to the inquiry.”

Mr Ross, however, said it was clear that Mr Yousaf and his deputy Shona Robison had been “caught red-handed in a cover up”, accusing them of treating the Parliament with “contempt”.

The First Minister’s spokesman said later that Mr Yousaf would not be referring himself for investigation over a possible breach of the ministerial code, arguing the matter had been dealt with.

Meanwhile, ministers are facing a fresh secrecy row after it emerged that they have still not sent the inquiry unredacted legal advice relating to decisions made during the pandemic, despite two requests being made in August.

Mr Yousaf said this was due to “issues around legal privilege”, adding that “a discussion would have to take place with our law officers in relation to what can be unredacted”.

Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “There were major decisions during the pandemic which presumably had legal advice, such as lockdowns, discharge to care homes and do not resuscitate notices. That’s why this is so important.

“Hiding this crucial evidence is an affront to every victim of Covid, their families and everyone who lived under lockdowns and closures.”