UK Covid Inquiry Today: Jason Leitch and Devi Sridhar appear amid fallout from Nicola Sturgeon WhatsApp row
Recap with The Scotsman after National Clinical Director Professor Jason Leitch gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Live: Jason Leitch faces the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
Key Events
- The UK Covid-19 Inquiry continues to sit in Edinburgh to examine the Scottish pandemic response
- National Clinical Director Professor Jason Leitch is to give evidence
- This comes after it was revealed Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Gregor Smith encouraged colleagues to delete their WhatsApps
We are now discussing the use and retention of WhatsApp messages during the pandemic.
The counsel asks for his understanding of the Scottish Government’s policy.
Prof Leitch said: “As you’ve heard the record retention policy was that you could use informal messaging systems for Scottish Government business.
“If you did, you should ensure any advice or decisions or anything that should be in the corporate record, was then placed in the corporate record and then deleted.
“That’s the guidance I followed.”
He was asked what happened to discussions relating to the management of the pandemic.
Prof Leitch said: “That’s subjective, but the core advice was to inform the corporate record of decision-making and then the WhatsApp could and should be deleted.”
The counsel also revealed that no one-to-one informal communications have been kept by Prof Leitch except for Twitter DMs.
In discussing his own personal way of handling emails, Prof Leitch says: “I get an overwhelming, hundreds of emails a day.
“The only way to manage that is to try and manage today’s messages and emails today.
“So I have a system in my private office and I am filing emails and I am very strict, I try to work to an inbox zero way of working, so my inbox is empty each evening.
“That’s the only way to manage the level of information that I do.”
He was asked if this was always his approach to work.
Prof Leitch said: “Correct, and remains my way of working today.
“In this kind of job, with broad information sources I receive and the volume I receive, it’s the only way I have found to manage this day-to-day.”
Take a look at what our Health Correspondent Joseph Anderson has to say on X about the Star Chamber WhatsApp group.
Prof Leitch is now denying deleting his messages was a “pre-bed ritual”.
On Friday it was revealed Prof Leitch said “WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual”.
He’s been asked why he thought the daily deletion of messages was appropriate.
He said: “This is slightly flippant and an exaggeration.
“I didn’t delete daily WhatsApps.
“My position is as I tried to do today’s work today, if I could assure myself the work had been managed, I deleted the informal messaging.
“But this was a flippant exaggeration, it wasn’t done every day before I went to bed.”
Prof Leitch says “in my memory only once” has he set up auto-delete on a WhatsApp group - the Star Chamber group - which he says he believes deletes everyone’s messages.
He was asked if this means messages were automatically deleted without checking if others in the group had uploaded the details to the corporate record.
Prof Leitch said: “I am comfortable the decisions were being dealt with very, very quickly.
“This group was principally used on my behalf for me to get data prior to any media appearances.”
Prof Leitch: “I have followed the Scottish Government guidance and my interpretation of it is correct.
“I think I have followed the Scottish Government guidance and deleted messages in line with Scottish Government guidance.”
Humza Yousaf had asked for guidance on mask-wearing when making an after dinner speech.
Prof Leitch said: “Officially yes, but no one does.
“Have a drink in your hands at all times, then you’re exempt.
“So if someone comes over and you stand, lift your drink.”
Lots more questioning now on this exchange between Prof Leitch and Humza Yousaf.
Prof Leitch said: “I think this was a tricky area, I found it tricky as well.
“I understood the rules but the reality of life and the environment we were trying to do these things in perhaps suggests the guidance was nuanced rather than entirely right.”
The counsel asks if by saying “literally no one does” wear masks was his impression of the state of compliance with mask wearing and accused him of giving the now first minister a “workaround” for him to not wear a face mask.
Prof Leitch has been asked about why the Scottish media briefings took a different tone from UK media briefings.
He says this was not a specific decision, but a different tone developed over the course of the pandemic.
Prof Leitch said: “We were led by the former first minister in her way of dealing with the media and public communications.
“Therefore we fitted into that environment
“There was a decision about not using data the UK Government often used such as slides, we decided not to do that because we thought that wasn’t the way the Scottish public wants to hear from us.
“We took long series of questions - that model was designed by our news and communications team in light of the former first minister’s preferences, and we fitted into that.”
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