2. During the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland, thousands of people died. It is for those people that we should be thinking about our questions and answers today. The Government sent untested and Covid-positive patients into care homes, with devastating consequences, and millions suffered from the effects of lockdown. That is why both the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries are crucial, because we need to understand what happened in order to learn lessons for the future.

The Deputy First Minister and the First Minister have talked a lot about individual responsibility in relation to the inquiry. However, the First Minister is responsible for the conduct of the Scottish Government. Will he take personal responsibility for ensuring that the Government complies in full with all requests from the Covid inquiry?

Of course, it is my responsibility and I will liaise closely, as Anas Sarwar would imagine that I would, with the permanent Secretary in order to ensure that the organisation fully complies. I said that to Anas Sarwar previously. We will hand over whatever material has been retained by the Scottish Government; 14,000 WhatsApp messages are in the process of being handed over, on top of the 19,000 documents that we have already submitted. It is appropriate that every member and official in the Government complies.

On Anas Sarwar’s specific point, I am responsible for my witness statement. I do not know what other requests have gone to individual ministers or Cabinet secretaries, nor do I know what they have submitted. That is appropriate. Anas Sarwar is mouthing “Why?” The reason is that there are confidentially requirements for any public inquiry that must be adhered to. If I tried to break that, Anas Sarwar would be the first one to drag me over the hot coals and say, “Why on earth are you breaching the confidentiality of an inquiry that could potentially prejudice any said inquiry?”

To make it absolutely clear, my understanding is that the information about the confidentiality of the inquiry has been sent to the Scottish Parliament information centre, but we can make sure that Anas Sarwar gets a copy for his information.

I think that Humza Yousaf is missing the central point. He is the First Minister; he is responsible not only for his own actions as an individual but for the actions of the Scottish Government, ministers and officials.

I do not think he has read last week’s transcript from the Covid inquiry, which is absolutely damning about the actions of this Government and about his own behaviour. In June, I asked the First Minister directly:

“Will the First Minister confirm that all ministers and officials, past and present, have complied with the do not destroy instruction? Will he give a guarantee that all requested emails, texts and WhatsApp messages will be handed over in full to the inquiry?”—[

Official Report

, 29 June 2023; c 15.]

He gave a direct answer. He said, “Yes, they will.” There was no equivocation and there were no caveats or grey areas, but we now know that messages have been deleted. Crucially, it is for the judge, and not for individual ministers and officials, to decide what is relevant.

Once again, this is about the conduct of the Scottish Government. Can the First Minister tell us how many of the 70 ministers and officials have failed to comply with the do not destroy notice and how many have deleted messages?

The First Minister:

Let us be absolutely clear. Anas Sarwar—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Members!

The First Minister:

Anas Sarwar is asking me to demand witness statements from individual witnesses so that I can see what they have or have not handed over, because that is the only way that I could know whether former ministers have or have not submitted information—[

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Members, let us hear the First Minister.

The First Minister:

—or what that information is. That would, in my view, be a pretty serious breach of the confidentiality of the inquiry.

Anas Sarwar has also asked me about the organisation. It is absolutely my expectation, and that of the permanent Secretary, that potentially relevant information should be kept, recorded in the appropriate way and handed over to the inquiry when that is requested. That is why we are in the process of handing over 14,000 messages. I do not know, because I have not seen the detail, but I suspect that many of those messages—given that they came from WhatsApp groups, as the Deputy First Minister outlined earlier this week—may not be relevant. Anas Sarwar is right that it is for the inquiry to determine that. That is why I, as First Minister, will hand over all my WhatsApp messages in unredacted form.

I return to the point that I made to Douglas Ross: the Scottish inquiry was set up to get to the truth of the matter. That is why, as part of its terms of reference, the inquiry will examine the issue of the discharge of patients, and we will fully co-operate with that.

The public, and indeed the inquiry, can see that the First Minister was unequivocal in June but that he is now dodging responsibility in the answers that has given today. It is also clear that the section 21 notice was issued to the Government, not to individual ministers and officials, and that it is the Government that is responsible for collating that evidence and providing it to the inquiry. To abdicate responsibility is frankly shameful, and people right across the country will see that.

The harsh reality is that the First Minister has lost control of his Government. He does not know how many ministers or officials have complied with the “do not destroy” notice, he does not know how many have deleted messages and he claims that the Government’s response to the inquiry is for individuals, rather than for his Government.

The First Minister promised members that he would ensure that all material was handed over to the inquiry in full. We have seen this week how important those messages are. Why does the First Minister believe that his Government should be held to a lower standard than the Tories at Westminster? What is he doing to identify those who did not comply with the “do not destroy” notices? What action is he taking against those who failed to comply, or should we conclude that his word means nothing?

The First Minister:

I will again try to clarify some of the issues that Anas Sarwar has raised. It is crucial to say that, when the UK Government inquiry asked us in June for details of the various WhatsApp groups concerning Covid 19, it did not request the messages themselves. The messages were asked for in September, just a matter of weeks ago. The Scottish Government then asked for a section 21 order because of the personal information in some of those messages, and that was received. Now, of course, we will meet the deadline of 6 November to hand over 14,000 messages in unredacted form.

Destroyed!

The First Minister:

I can hear Jackie Baillie shouting, “Destroyed!”, but the 14,000 messages have not been destroyed. We are handing them over, and they include ministers past and present. We do not know which ministers—again, for confidentiality purposes—but we know that they include ministers past and present.

I go back to the point that Anas Sarwar and Douglas Ross have every right to ask about messages being handed over. I give an unequivocal guarantee to those families who have been bereaved by Covid that the messages that we have retained will absolutely be handed over—and handed over in full. As First Minister and the head of the Government, when submitting my statement, I will be handing over my messages in full and unredacted.