A Perthshire woman who lost her wife to Covid said deleted WhatsApp messages among government figures mean the public inquiry is being held back from getting to the truth.
Jane Morrison appeared before the official Scottish Covid inquiry on Friday, explaining the trauma of the losing her partner, Jacky Morrison-Hart.
Ms Morrison-Hart, 49, had been admitted to hospital for a separate illness but contracted Covid-19 while at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.
After battling the disease, she died a short time later in October 2020.
Ms Morrison’s appearance at the inquiry in Edinburgh comes one day after First Minister Humza Yousaf was caught up in a row about the way decision-making records were kept or lost during the pandemic.
WhatsApp messages ‘not retained’
The separate UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s legal team believes the “majority” of WhatsApp messages shared among Scottish Government officials during the pandemic “have not been retained”.
Speaking to reporters after her appearance in Edinburgh on Friday, Ms Morrison, who lives near Comrie, said she’ll never know how crucial those messages would be.
“It depends what’s in the WhatsApps and we’ll never know because there aren’t any copies,” she said.
“It is something we really do need to see to understand what’s going on. To not be able to have that, it takes an important step away from the decision-making process and the knowledge of why people made that decision, what was their thinking behind that.”
She added: “I think it restricts our opportunities to get to the truth. It all depends on what was the motive behind deletion.”
‘I could sleep at night’
Asked for her opinion on any deletion, she said: “I would be very pleased that I’m not that person and I could sleep at night.
“I think if someone deliberately deleted stuff to avoid us getting to the truth, then morally and ethically, as well as legally, it’s totally in the wrong.”
On Thursday, Mr Yousaf said Scotland’s Solicitor General will investigate questions over retained messages.
In her closing remarks at Thursday’s UK hearing, inquiry chair Lady Hallett said she was “very concerned” about the development.
Lady Hallett said she “will not hesitate” to use statutory powers at her disposal to obtain the relevant information.
A report in The Times suggests one of the people who did not keep informal messages was national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch.
It was reported the public health official deleted messages, doing so before a “do not destroy” notice was issued by the inquiry.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, Deputy First Minister Shona Robison said all ministers and civil servants, including Mr Leitch, “have been co-operating fully” with the inquiries.
The government said it is not correct to say he deleted messages every day.
Ms Morrison previously spoke about her loss to the UK inquiry, which is running at the same time as the Scottish one.
In Edinburgh on Friday she told how she had to wait seven months following the death of her wife to share a hug with a friend or family member.
She told the inquiry it was “wrong” for lockdown restrictions to prevent mourners from embracing at funerals.
‘Covid deniers’
She went on to speak of Covid-deniers and conspiracy theorists who she believed began to gain “more ground” and became more “vocal”.
However, she maintained: “I think the ultimate insult came when all of the so-called partygate stories came out and people became so angry.
“They felt they’d been treated with absolute contempt and they felt they’d been taken for a ride and treated as mugs.
“That produced so much anger, it’s difficult to find the words to adequately display all of those factors. All of those factors contribute in my view.”
The inquiry, taking place before Lord Brailsford in Edinburgh, continues.
On record keeping in the Scottish Government, Ms Robison said: “While it is not the culture within Scottish Government to use WhatsApp for decision-making, our records management policy states clearly that government decisions, however they are made, should be recorded in the official record.
“And drawing from that official record, more than 13,000 documents have been sent to the UK Inquiry from the Scottish Government, in addition to the corporate and personal statements requested.
“The UK Inquiry has subsequently asked for WhatsApp messages relating to logistics and day-to-day communication, which of course we are working to provide.”
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