Nicola Sturgeon: 'We have not had a day off since the deaths of our loved ones', Scottish Covid Bereaved family members tell former SNP leader

Members of the Covid Bereavement Group gave their reaction to Nicola Sturgeon’s evidence

It should have been a day of answers for people who lost loved ones during the Covid pandemic – to hear the former head of the Scottish Government describing the decision-making process during the crisis.

However, the Covid Bereavement Group, a collective of people who lost loved ones during the pandemic and who were instrumental in calling for the inquiry to take place, warned they were “deeply unsatisfied” after hearing former first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s evidence to the UK Covid Inquiry.

The group’s lawyer, Aamar Anwar, said his clients were considering calling for a criminal investigation into the actions of Ms Sturgeon and others over the deletion of key WhatsApp messages between government figures, but said they would consider their next steps after the conclusion of the evidence.

Members of the group outside the Inquiry on Wednesday. Picture Lisa Ferguson

"To say they are deeply unsatisfied is an understatement,” Mr Anwar said. “As expected, Ms Sturgeon delivered a polished performance. However, the bereaved do not accept the basis for why every single WhatsApp in a significant period of the pandemic was deleted.”

Peter McMahon

Mr McMahon lost his wife, Debbie, in October 2020, six days after she spent her 53rd birthday in hospital on a ventilator. She caught Covid two months after the Scottish Government lifted the guidance for vulnerable people – of which she was one – to shield.

"Myself and Debbie, we watched Nicola every day at the beginning of the pandemic and we basically believed every word she said.

Peter McMahon's wife, Debbie, contracted Covid in October 2020.

"We thought she was doing a tremendous job, we thought she was so much better than the UK government. But not only in the evidence today, but over the last three weeks listening to the Scottish inquiry, I’ve now come to question if what she was saying was actually true.

"I now have the opinion that the reason she [Ms Sturgeon] was front and centre of those briefings every day was because she wanted to be in total control of the Scottish Government and didn’t allow anybody else to stand up instead of her.

“The WhatsApp saga has turned it into a bit of a soap opera at times. You would be naive to think that every conversation you ever have, whether at work or anywhere, is going to be recorded because that just doesn’t happen. But you would expect the important thing to be recorded like the ‘Gold’ meetings.

"That’s not the way they should be doing things. If they’ve been transparent and have nothing to hide, they should be keeping things on public record in a proper manner. They chose to turn the fight against Covid into a game of political one-upmanship with the UK government and both the Scottish and UK governments should hang their heads in shame for that. They played a game of Russian roulette with all of our lives, but the gun was never pointed at their own heads.

Solicitor Aamer Anwar makes a statement on behalf of bereaved families after hearing the first part of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon giving evidence at the Scottish Covid Inquiry, At UK COVID INQUIRY ON Wednesday 31st JANUARY Evidence of Nicola Sturgeon MSP Core UK decision-making and political governance – Scotland (Module 2A) Inquiry begins at 10am- A short press conference will take place prior to the evidence of the former FM at 9.30am, with another press conference at around 1pm and a final one between 4 and 4.30pm following the completion of the FM’s evidence. Present at the hearing will be members of the Scottish Covid Bereaved for one to one interviews requested. The press conferences will take place outside the venue.

"After hearing her speak today, I would like to look Nicola Sturgeon in the eye and say ‘are you telling me the whole truth? Are you telling me the truth as you understand it, or are you telling me the truth as you want me to understand it?’

"What I would like to come out of this is for politicians, whatever party they represent, to learn that they can’t just act with impunity, they’re accountable.”

Alan Inglis

Mr Inglis’ 34-year-old son, Calum, died alone in a prison cell at Addiewell Prison after testing positive for Covid in October 2021.

Alan Inglis, whose son, Calum, died of Covid-19.

"The last text I got from him said he felt worse than he’d ever felt in his life, he said he felt like a 90-year-old man. Even when I got that I was still thinking ‘right, he’s going to be seen [by medical staff]’. What I’m left with is that there was my son, clearly unwell and I didn’t do anything, I trusted the system. As Calum’s dad, I’m left with that guilt.

"I’m here today to represent Calum and give him a voice, but to hope that lessons are learned. What was highlighted today in Nicola Sturgeon’s evidence was that there was a small group of ministers, having a personal conversation and saying they knew this conversation could be asked for through FOI, so they told each other to clear the chat. It just feels like ‘what are they trying to hide?’. These politicians are voted into government, hopefully to represent us in a truthful way and to act with integrity. My personal feeling was we’re not getting all the truth.

"We’re all human and we all make mistakes, but admit to them and learn from them. Be big enough to provide a future government with a tool kit so they can better deal with a future pandemic.”

Pamela Thomas

Her brother, James Cameron, died of Covid during the pandemic.

“I think too much of the inquiry time has been taken up with the deletion of the WhatsApp messages and I don’t think they’re capable of actually telling the truth or being transparent. Crocodile tears aren’t washing with me.

“If there is any tools available to my solicitors or the inquiry with regards to any criminal activity that took place, I would like them to use them all.”

Margaret Waterton

Ms Waterton lost both her mother, Margaret, and husband, David, during the pandemic.

"We’ve listened this morning to Ms Sturgeon, who is a consummate politician, a polished performance, and we remain dissatisfied that evidence, including minutes from the Gold Command meetings, WhatsApp messages and other evidence has not been made clear to us. So the context of the decision making that has been going on at the heart of Scottish Government remains unclear to us.

“Ms Sturgeon said she had not had a day off for some months during the pandemic. I would ask Ms Sturgeon to consider walking a day in our shoes, because we have not had a day off since the deaths of our loved ones.”

Dr Cathy Mitchell

Her mother, Jennifer, died of Covid in a care home in April 2020, leaving her father living alone in the same care home.

“Many other residents in that same nursing home also lost their lives to Covid that week. We are looking for answers in this inquiry as to how decisions were reached and the reasoning behind decisions, such as why scientific advice was not listened to or not acted upon.

“I feel frustrated that today a lot of time has been spent, quite rightly, to gain the truth [about the WhatsApp messages], but it feels like time has been wasted.”