UK Covid Inquiry: SNP ministers and Nicola Sturgeon motivated by constitutional politics at times during Covid, suggests Michael Gove

The senior UK minister said the political aim of the SNP is to ‘destroy’ the union

Nicola Sturgeon sought to diverge from the UK Government at certain points during the coronavirus pandemic in order to advance the SNP’s “political agenda”, Michael Gove has suggested to the UK Covid Inquiry.

Mr Gove said the inquiry had seen “direct evidence of the Scottish Government thinking politically”.

However, he said he believed the “overwhelming motivation” of Scottish ministers was to protect people from the virus.

Witnesses appearing today include Leveling Up Secretary Michael Gove and Jeane Freeman, former Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport in Scotland. The inquiry, separate from the Scottish Covid Inquiry, examines the UK's response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Module 2a focusing on the Scottish Government's decision-making regarding the nature and spread of Covid-19. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Jeane Freeman, the former health secretary, later told the inquiry she will regret for the rest of her life those deaths that occurred in care homes because of Scottish Government decision-making.

Mr Gove, who gave evidence on Monday morning, denied the UK Government had played politics during the pandemic. He served as a Cabinet Office minister during the crisis, with a focus on intergovernmental relations.

He said there were occasions when Scottish ministers “looked at things through a particular prism with respect to whether or not the case could be made, in due course, for independence, and that therefore there were certain occasions where divergence was being considered through a political lens”.

Mr Gove pointed to WhatsApp messages handed over to the inquiry by Liz Lloyd, who was Nicola Sturgeon’s chief of staff.

UK Covid-19 Inquiry live stream of Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry hearing at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre which is exploring core UK decision-making and political governance. Issue date: Monday January 29, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story INQUIRY Coronavirus . Photo credit should read: UK Covid-19 Inquiry/PA Wire

In November 2020, Ms Lloyd messaged her boss on WhatsApp expressing frustration over the planned winding down of the UK Government’s furlough scheme. She wanted to put pressure on the UK Government, writing: “Think I just want a good old fashioned rammy so can think about something other than sick people.”

In earlier messages between the pair, Ms Sturgeon described Boris Johnson as a “f**king clown”.

Mr Gove said: “It is possible, and I think this is the case, to have in the Scottish Government both a commitment from people, who are public servants first, to seek to do their best for their fellow citizens, but also, given the cause to which they have devoted their lives, the temptation at certain points to seek political advantage is clearly there.

"And I think that the language used, the desire to have a ‘good old fashioned rammy’ with the UK Government, and some of the other language used which I shan't repeat now, does lead me to believe that, at that point, there was a desire to pursue differentiation for the sake of advancing a particular political agenda.”

He told the inquiry: “I don’t believe they are politically motivated in everything that they do. I have great respect for the professionalism with which many Scottish Government ministers conducted themselves, and I do believe their overwhelming motivation was to protect the people of Scotland from a virus.

"However, there are and were occasions when the Scottish Government, as we can see, was thinking politically. And, of course, it is the case that the SNP has a political mission, which is to achieve Scotland’s independence, i.e. to destroy the United Kingdom. And it would be naive not to be aware that highly skilled politicians, including those at the top of the Scottish Government, might well seek what they perceive to be political advantage at certain points.”

Asked if the UK Government sought to do the same to promote its agenda of keeping the UK together, Mr Gove said: “No, because I think the most important thing that we felt was that it was important to ensure that lives were saved across the United Kingdom.”

He said the existence of “pan-UK structures” helped in the fight against Covid.

Jamie Dawson KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, highlighted a visit to Scotland by Boris Johnson in July 2020, in which the then-prime minister spoke of the “sheer might” of the union. Mr Gove denied this showed the UK Government “playing politics”.

Mr Dawson also pointed to a Cabinet Office briefing paper written by Mr Gove ahead of Mr Johnson’s trip. This described the risk to the union as “the greatest challenge” the UK Government needed to confront, other than Covid.

The paper added: "In the lead up to May next year [when the Scottish election was to take place], and throughout this Parliament, protecting and strengthening the union must be a cornerstone of all that we do.”

Asked by Mr Dawson if he was setting out a strategy to use the pandemic to strengthen the union, Mr Gove said: “I think it’s the case that I’m seeking to make sure that people appreciate the way in which the existence of the United Kingdom and its institutions has enabled us to deal effectively with the Covid pandemic.”

He added that the UK Government had to address the appearance it was “hiding its light under a bushel”.

Mr Gove said that to be “passive in the face of an attempt to break up the United Kingdom” would be to “quit the field when there is a direct danger to the well-being of every citizen of the United Kingdom".

Elsewhere, he said some ministers in the Scottish Government were "much more constructive” than others, and singled out Kate Forbes, the former finance secretary, for particular praise.

“I think the person who was undoubtedly one of the most constructive was Kate Forbes,” Mr Gove told the inquiry. "It was the case that in all conversations with Kate Forbes, she would eschew any political – not point-scoring, but point-making, and concentrate on the business at hand.”

In contrast, he said there could be a “political complexion” to some of the points former first minister Nicola Sturgeon chose to make.

Mr Gove said the Scottish Government believed its handling of the pandemic was “somehow superior” to that of the UK Government.

He said: “I think, almost all of the time decisions were made in the public health benefit of the people of Scotland. But I think the Scottish Government believed that its handling of these matters was somehow superior to that of the UK Government and that people would appreciate that and be prompted to think how much better might life be if we gave the Scottish Government more powers and moved further down the path to independence.”

Pushed for examples of when divergence was sought for political ends, Mr Gove said: “I think there are two things. There was a temptation; there were moments when the Scottish Government diverged. Did they diverge for political reasons or not? I can’t conclude, because I can’t make windows of men’s or women’s souls.”

The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett, continues.

SNP MSP Clare Haughey said the Cabinet Office paper showed the Conservative Government “was in fact plotting against independence during the pandemic”.

She added: “This very important inquiry will help us learn lessons from Covid-19 and ensure we’re best-prepared for a future pandemic. The Tories do themselves no favours with their political mudslinging – and today, not for the first time, their rank hypocrisy is there for all to see.”