Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has been accused of 'misleading Parliament' by Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Douglas Ross.
Speaking at Thursday's First Minister's Questions, Ross quizzed Yousaf about the Scottish Government's cooperation with the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry, and revealed that Jamie Dawson KC has said "no messages were provided".
In June this year, Yousaf had previously said in the chamber that "WhatsApp messages, emails, signal messages, Telegram messages, or whatever, will absolutely be handed over to the COVID inquiries, and handed over to them in full."
In a statement issued on Thursday morning, Dawson said “the Scottish Government has provided the inquiry with no WhatsApp or other informal messaging material.”
Douglas Ross accused First Minister Humza Yousaf of misleading parliament
Scottish Parliament TV
In the chamber, Ross opened his question to Yousaf on the absence of the evidence, asking "why has the First Minister not handed over key messages to the inquiry?", to which Yousaf replied by first paying tribute to those who lost their lives to coronavirus.
Yousaf then claimed the Scottish Government will "cooperate fully with both the UK inquiry and the Scottish public inquiry".
Ross then appeared confused as he argued: "I'm not sure what the First Minister is talking about? This is from this morning - surely he is aware of what is happening?"
Ross pressed Yousaf: "Where are the messages? Where have they gone? And has the Scottish Government deleted any messages?"
Yousaf defended the Scottish Government, claiming: "The Scottish Government did not make decisions through WhatsApp, that's not what we routinely did. I know that was very different to what was being intimated by the UK Government.
"I have and I will continue to say to every single Government minister, every single Government official, that we must comply with the inquiry fully.
The First Minister continued: "So if there is relevant information, that has been passed on, I know the concerns that were raised this morning, therefore I've asked the Solicitor General this morning to internally investigate whether there of course are any other messages that have to be handed over.
"Messages have been, whether it's WhatsApp, whether it's email, whether it's correspondence, all that information has been provided. I myself have provided a statement of course to the inquiry as well. But I do know the concerns that have been raised."
Humza Yousaf said Ross' claim was a 'complete mischaracterisation'
Scottish Parliament TV
Ross fought back against Yousaf's comments: "But it's not! That's what we are hearing this morning, and it shouldn't take the Solicitor General to get involved. The First Minister must know what is required and must have heard as I did what the council for the inquiry has said.
"And I'm not going to say deliberately, maybe inadvertently, that the First Minister misled Parliament there, because we know that SNP government ministers do routinely use WhatsApp to discuss government matters.
"The chamber audibly reacted as Ross continued: "At the end of last year it was revealed that four government ministers were using WhatsApp to conduct government business - Neil Gray, Kevin Stewart, Maree Todd and Humza Yousaf himself."
Yousaf disagreed with Ross' claim that he misled parliament, stating that it was a "complete mischaracterisation" and that he "didn't mislead parliament".
