Pressure piles on Nicola Sturgeon after Kate Forbes says she retained Covid WhatsApps

The former finance secretary said she had not deleted anything

Kate Forbes. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA

Further pressure has been piled on Nicola Sturgeon after Kate Forbes, the former finance secretary, said she had retained all of her Covid WhatsApp messages.

Ms Forbes told journalists in the Scottish Parliament she had not deleted anything. She said it had been “made clear from quite an early stage” that an inquiry would take place.

Ms Sturgeon, the former first minister, has refused to confirm or deny reports she deleted some or all of her WhatsApp messages. However, she insists she has “nothing to hide”.

Asked if she had retained her WhatsApp messages, Ms Forbes said: “I have. I’ve not deleted anything – I’ve retained all relevant correspondence and that includes retaining all my WhatsApp messages.”

Asked if she had shared these with the UK inquiry, she said: “I have shared everything that the Covid inquiry has asked of me.”

Ms Forbes, who took maternity leave from summer 2022, said she would continue to cooperate with the inquiries over the coming months and years.

Humza Yousaf, the First Minister, previously said it was Scottish Government policy to “routinely delete WhatsApp messages”. This policy, which has now been published, states “business conversations” through informal messaging channels should be deleted “at least monthly” after any decisions have been noted in the record management system.

Asked if she was surprised to hear Mr Yousaf saying it was Government policy to delete WhatsApps, Ms Forbes said: “Well, I suppose my approach has been that where something is relevant to my role as minister, I have retained it.

"If I could take a step back, and just quickly say that it’s really critical that the Covid inquiries provide answers to all those who were affected during the Covid years, and I think that calls for the greatest possible source of information, correspondence and evidence and so on.”

Asked if it was wrong for anyone to have routinely deleted messages, Ms Forbes said she could only answer for herself.

Asked if she thought everyone else should hand over all informal messages, she said: “I believe that these Covid inquiries, the UK one and the Scottish one, must provide answers and therefore it calls on the greatest possible source of evidence, correspondence and statements.”

Ms Forbes said she “very rarely” spoke to other ministers on WhatsApp, adding: “It’s not something that I’ve used very often. I certainly didn’t make any decisions about Covid via WhatsApp.”

She said she was conscious that “it was made clear from quite an early stage there would be an inquiry and there was a call on the greatest possible source of information and correspondence”.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “Kate Forbes’ confirmation that she retained all WhatsApp messages contrasts sharply with the evasion of Nicola Sturgeon when repeatedly asked the same question.

“It also further undermines Humza Yousaf’s claim on Monday that it was SNP Government policy to delete these messages. If this was true, why did the then health secretary – Humza Yousaf himself – and the then finance secretary openly breach cabinet policy?

“The First Minister must urgently clear up this contradiction, while Nicola Sturgeon must come clean and answer a simple question. She can’t continue to, contemptuously, hide behind process, when that hasn’t prevented Kate Forbes or Humza Yousaf from answering it.”