UK Covid Inquiry: Humza Yousaf admits to 'winging it' as health secretary during pandemic as Scottish Government leaders accused of 'pettiness'

The national clinical director, Professor Jason Leitch, accused another politician of ‘harrumphing like a child’

The Scottish Government’s leadership was accused of “pettiness” as fresh messages emerged of Humza Yousaf admitting to “winging it” in his early days as health secretary at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Calls for national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch to be sacked have also grown after private WhatsApp messages with Mr Yousaf were also published in which he accused one Tory MSP of "harrumphing like a child" and called a Labour MSP a "smarta*se".

The fresh batch of private messages were made public just hours after the First Minister had finished giving evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry on Thursday.

First Minister Humza Yousaf departs the UK Covid inquiry. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

In the messages, Mr Yousaf, who became health secretary in May 2021 after the Holyrood election, tells Prof Leitch he is “winging it” in the post.

Mr Yousaf remarked the pandemic meant “everyone is of course a public health expert”, with Prof Leitch telling him: “You actually are. Three weeks training!”

The minister responds: “I am winging it! And will get found out sooner rather than later.”

In an earlier exchange between the two men, dated May 20, 2021, Prof Leitch complained that he can “barely understand” Scotland’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Gregor Smith.

He made the remark after Mr Yousaf asked to be kept informed about what media appearances the adviser was doing.

Mr Yousaf said: “Not for permission no, but helpful to know what bids youre doing so i can catch up as I often plagiarise what you are saying – verbatim… just to make it look like i know what I’m actually talking about.”

Prof Leith said he will “definitely” tell him, and when Mr Yousaf added: “Expect some more requests for layman explanations,” the adviser replied: “Easy. It’s my only skill.” He then adds: “And I barely understand Gregor either but the boffins like him.”

Papers released by the inquiry also showed a conversation between the two men on WhatsApp on June 11, 2021, with Prof Leitch telling Mr Yousaf he had just led a briefing for MSPs.

"They were mostly fine,” the national clinical director told Mr Yousaf. “Very reasonable and predictable. Edward Mountain rude and Daniel Johnson a smarta*se. Otherwise fine.”

Mr Mountain is a Tory MSP and Daniel Johnson is a Labour MSP.

The national clinical director continued: “My Mum taught me never to be rude. Mountain was head shaking and harrumphing....like a child.” Mr Yousaf had earlier replied: “Doesn't surprise me about Mountain or DJ frankly.”

He said Paul Sweeney, another Labour MSP, “will also be one to watch, he will tell you how to do your job”.

Mr Leitch responded: “He's had a go on Twitter previously. Anas [Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader] says he's struggling with him and new girl Mercedes [Villalba, a Labour MSP].”

Mr Sarwar branded Prof Leitch’s move to attack individual politicians so soon after being elected to Holyrood as MSPs as “ridiculous”.

“For the national clinical director to be briefing newly-elected MSPs and then after briefing those newly elected MSPs to start ranting about them in that way I think shows extremely unprofessional behaviour,” he told LBC.

“And again [it] shows I think the pettiness of, yes, our political leadership in this country, but how that permeated then in terms of that rotten culture to the most senior civil servants.”

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “It is totally inappropriate that a supposedly impartial health advisor was behaving like a paid-up member of the SNP during the pandemic.

“The messages that have come to light from others reveal that Jason Leitch laughed as the future first minister insulted others, and that he even joined in the mud-slinging at politicians from other parties.

“It is no wonder that he became a cheerleader for the industrial-scale deletion of WhatsApps from those at the top of the SNP-Government, and that it became a ‘pre-bed ritual’ for him and his colleagues to hide petty attacks – and much else besides – such as these.

“Mr Leitch must now do the decent thing and resign or be sacked as national clinical director, as it’s clear that he’s not fit for the role.”

However, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is committed to responding to both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 inquiries, as learning lessons from the pandemic is vital to prepare for the future.

“It would be inappropriate to comment on the detail of evidence being considered by the UK Covid Inquiry while hearings are ongoing.”

Mr Yousaf previously offered an “unreserved” apology for the Scottish Government’s “frankly poor” handling of requests from the UK Covid Inquiry for WhatsApp messages to be handed over. He told the inquiry on Thursday he accepted this would have caused “serious grief and re-trauma” for those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.

Senior officials, including Prof Leitch, have told the inquiry they routinely deleted WhatsApp messages. They say they were following Scottish Government guidance, which said messages should be deleted at least monthly and any key points officially logged.

WhatsApp messages submitted to the inquiry by Liz Lloyd, who was Nicola Sturgeon’s chief of staff, show the former first minister described Boris Johnson as a “f**king clown” in late October 2020.

Ms Sturgeon is set to give evidence on Wednesday, with an entire day set aside for the former first minister.

Former health secretary Jeane Freeman and former finance secretary Kate Forbes are among others due to give evidence next week.

Professor Steven Yule, who heads up the University of Edinburgh’s behavioural sciences team, said the “flippant” humour and insults used in the government’s sweary pandemic WhatsApp exchanges were a form of “psychological protection, a way to cope” while making decisions in a high pressure environment.

He said the messages showed how much time decision makers spent with each other during the pandemic, and the immense strain they were under. In high performing environments, teams “spend a lot of time together”, Prof Yule said.

“They probably spend more time with colleagues than family and friends,” he said. “With leaders, in the inner work circle, you might get a much truer sense of what someone thinks or believes. So leaders can use that sort of offhand language and give a sense of their true self, which can be used to galvanise a team and engender trust and fortify relationships.”

He added: “I’d be more concerned if Nicola Sturgeon was using that language or those terms on record to The Scotsman.”

Prof Yule said “across most industries” where decisions were life and death there was a “black humour” that helps people cope in those situations.

“There is a humour used about black and grave situations which is used as a psychological protection, it’s a way to cope,” he said.

“We do a lot of research on failure and the ability of humans to try and cope with those situations. You often see them coming out in unusual ways.” He added: “I’m sure politicians will look back on those messages through their fingers.”

Giving the example of journalists covering hard news stories, Prof Yule said if people become “emotionally attached to the people in those stories, it would be very difficult to be objective”, with the same going for decision makers in government.

Prof Yule explained that politicians “have this external persona” of professionalism and public image.

“That's very important, but also like most people, we've got that for our work or professional context, and then we have a kind of private context as well and perhaps even behave definitely in those two contexts,” he said. “What’s interesting is that those two contexts are blurred in this case.”

Speaking about the pressures that decision makers faced during the pandemic, Prof YuIe said: “I think it’s hugely challenging if there isn’t a playbook for these types of situations.

“Professionals often find themselves having to do the first heart surgery, or first moon walk, and there’s not really a way to train for that. Great teams are based on their practice and expertise.”