Nicola Sturgeon accused of ‘crocodile tears’ at Covid-19 inquiry

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of “crocodile tears” during her appearance at the official Covid-19 inquiry.

The former First Minister of Scotland gave evidence in Edinburgh today and became emotional as she told of being “overwhelmed” during the early days of the pandemic.

Sturgeon held back tears as she said a “large part” of her wished she had not been first minister when the pandemic struck.

“I feel to my core that the number of lives lost to this pandemic were far too high. We were never going to be able to get through a pandemic with no loss of life,” she added.

But critics, including the Covid bereaved families, hit out at the former Scottish National Party (SNP) leader, who resigned in a shock move last year ahead of further police investigation into party finances, accusing her of faking her emotions.

Pamela Thomas who lost her brother, James Cameron, during the pandemic, said: “Crocodile tears aren’t washing with me.”

Thomas also criticised the inquiry for spending too long on the issue of WhatsApp, adding of Sturgeon: “I don’t think they’re capable of actually telling the truth or being transparent.”

While Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar told reporters in Westminster there was a “huge sense of betrayal” among the public after Sturgeon’s evidence at the Covid inquiry and accused the SNP of having a “culture of secrecy and coverup”.

He said: “I think there has been such a huge breach of that trust now, and such a sense of betrayal, that is going to rightfully anger so many people across the country.

Sturgeon also told the inquiry her main regret is that Scotland didn’t lock down “a week, two weeks earlier” at the start of the pandemic.

The former politician insisted she did not use WhatsApp to make decisions and did not make “extensive use” of the messaging platform. Government in Scotland was “open, transparent and accountable”, she maintained.

Sturgeon admitted she deleted her “informal” messages to others including now SNP leader Humza Yousaf, but that all “salient” points were recorded in official, corporate documents.

She apologised for any lack of clarity at a public briefing where she said her WhatsApps would be handed over despite knowing they had been deleted.

Current First Minister Yousaf, in his evidence to the inquiry last week, offered an “unreserved” apology for the “frankly poor” handling of requests for WhatsApp messages.

He has announced an external review into the government’s use of mobile messaging.