UK Covid Inquiry: Humza Yousaf accused of 'secrecy' after rejecting calls for 'Gold Command' minutes investigation

The UK Covid Inquiry was told last month that meetings of senior ministers outside the Scottish Cabinet – known as the ‘gold command’ – were not minuted.

Members of the meetings had included former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her then-deputy John Swinney.

Scottish Lib Dems leader Alex-Cole Hamilton wrote to the First Minister last month to ask if Mr Yousaf would investigate the lack of minutes from the ‘gold command’ meetings, as he suggested it represented an alleged breach of the ministerial code.

In a letter sent in response on February 12, Mr Yousaf said: “I believe that matters should only be referred to my independent advisers when there are sufficient grounds for a meaningful investigation, when their conclusions could usefully inform my deliberations.

"It is difficult to see how any investigation they might undertake could add to the existing scrutiny of the judge-led statutory inquiries, particularly given the fact that the scope of any investigation they may make on this matter under the code would be limited given its provisions do not apply to former ministers. Moreover, it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the findings of the inquiry in any way.”

The ministerial code states “any collective ministerial meeting should be minuted”.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: "Humza Yousaf is the only one who can decide if there should be an independent probe into whether the SNP Government broke the ministerial code and he is standing in the way of full disclosure.

“The ministerial code could not be clearer – these meetings should have been minuted. By refusing to investigate this, Humza Yousaf is doing everything he can to dodge questions and keep grieving families in the dark.

“It is simply wrong and incredibly bold for the First Minister to suggest an investigation would not help the inquiry. An investigation would only work in tandem with the public inquiry. It would provide the inquiry with the full picture that ministers have sought to undermine through their chaotic record-keeping and mass deletion of WhatsApp messages. It would also inspire more trust, rather than simply allowing the government to investigate itself as the First Minister proposes.

“Bereaved families deserve far better than a government more interested in covering its tracks than providing answers.”

Former finance secretary Kate Forbes told the UK Public Inquiry she was “surprised” to learn ‘gold command’ meetings were not minuted. Ms Forbes said she had been first invited to one of the meetings in 2021.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As the First Minister outlined in his response, judge-led statutory inquiries are already rightly scrutinising governments’ actions and the Scottish Government has been clear that it would not be appropriate to pre-empt their findings.

“Learning lessons from the pandemic is vital to prepare for the future. Scottish ministers are listening carefully to all the evidence and opinions expressed in the ongoing inquiries in order to learn lessons for any future pandemic. They await the inquiries’ conclusions and will respond as appropriate.”