Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross (Image: GETTY)
The SNP's "true, rotten colours" have been exposed by two key findings at the Covid inquiry, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said.
The Scottish Conservative leader pointed to revelations about deleted WhatsApp messages and SNP ministers plotting to use the pandemic to boost the independence cause.
Mr Ross spoke out ahead of a debate on government transparency at Holyrood tomorrow when Nicola Sturgeon is due to appear before the inquiry.
He said: “The Covid bereaved families have been utterly betrayed by an SNP Government which took its trademark secrecy and cover-up to a new low during the pandemic.
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“The inquiry has exposed their sickening cynicism and self-interest.
“We have learned of the orchestrated and concerted efforts of senior ministers and officials to delete WhatsApp messages en masse.
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“And the messages that have been recovered explain the reason for the cover-up: they didn’t want us to know that Nicola Sturgeon shamefully exploited the pandemic for ‘purely political’ purposes to stoke division with the UK Government and push the SNP’s independence obsession.
“That’s not an allegation – it’s a fact. Minutes of a cabinet meeting in June 2020, and messages from the former First Minister’s chief of staff, explicitly say so. They illustrate the SNP’s true, rotten colours.
“If Humza Yousaf’s ‘apology’ to the bereaved is to mean anything, he must refer himself to the independent adviser on the ministerial code, for misleading comments on his own WhatsApp messages, and back our calls to reconvene the Covid-19 committee, so that he and other ministers can be held to account.”
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Humza Yousaf used his Covid inquiry appearance last week to apologise for the Scottish Government's handling of requests for WhatsApp messages to be handed over.
He also told the inquiry that documents showing he "deleted all messages after a month for cybersecurity purposes" were correct, despite previously insisting reports he had wiped WhatsApps were "not true".
Meanwhile, Scottish Government papers showed Nicola Sturgeon's Cabinet discussed "restarting work on independence and a referendum" and suggested that arguments should "reflect the experience of the coronavirus crisis".
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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We offer our condolences and sympathies to all those who have been bereaved by Covid-19.
"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."
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