UK Covid Inquiry: Nicola Sturgeon called Boris Johnson 'a f***ing clown' during second lockdown announcement

Appearing at the UK Covid Inquiry hearings in Edinburgh, former aide to Nicola Sturgeon, Liz Lloyd, was shown WhatsApp messages between herself and the former First Minister during the pandemic.

Nicola Sturgeon referred to then Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a “f***ing clown” during a public address by the latter to announce a second lockdown, an inquiry has heard.

Appearing at the UK Covid Inquiry hearings in Edinburgh, former aide to Ms Sturgeon, Liz Lloyd, was quizzed on WhatsApp exchanges between herself and her boss during the pandemic.

In October 2020, during Johnson’s televised address to the public, Ms Lloyd messaged the First Minister: “Hitting 15 minutes between the rugby and Strictly to lock the country up... let’s never do it like this.”

Ms Sturgeon replied: “Comms is beyond awful. We’re not perfect but we don’t get enough credit for how much better we are.

“This is f***ing excruciating, their comms are awful.

“His utter incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere.

“He is a f***ing clown.”

The inquiry also heard that the relationship between the former First Minister and the then Prime Minister was virtually non existent.

Ms Lloyd said: “We had to mitigate the chaos that appeared around some of the decisions they took.”

Junior counsel to the inquiry Usman Tariq asked Ms Lloyd if the relationship between the then first minister and then prime minister had “broken down”.

She said:” That overstates what was there to break.”

She said of Boris Johnson: “He didn’t want to be on those calls, he wasn’t well briefed, he wasn’t listening, engagement with him became slightly pointless.

“They didn’t get us anywhere. We started with the approach we should work together, in co-ordinated fashion, but a substantive discussion isn’t what we got.

“The prime minister was reading a script and would largely ignore points made.”

She said Ms Sturgeon’s strong language showed her “frustration” towards Mr Johnson.

The inquiry was also shown WhatsApps messages between Liz Lloyd and Nicola Sturgeon on ending furlough papers.

In the messages Ms Lloyd said: “I think I just want a good old-fashioned rammy [with the UK Government] so I can think about something other than sick people.”

The counsel to the inquiry, Usman Tariq, asked her to explain this, to which Ms Lloyd replied: “This is an expression of frustration that we were not able to manage the pandemic at this point in time in the way we wanted.

“‘Good old-fashioned rammy’ is language I would rarely use, actually.

“There were a lot of things in Covid the UK Government did or didn’t do and we just let it go.

“I felt the issue of furlough was materially important to the handling of the pandemic, it was a hindrance to our ability to handle the pandemic.

“I was angry it had blocked our ability to do what we wanted to do, and that expresses that frustration bubbling over a bit.”

She said this was “looking for a public spat for a purpose” as it could deliver results.

Ms Lloyd disputed Mr Tariq’s suggestion that the comment was related to independence.