Nicola Sturgeon accepts 'mistakes and misjudgements' made during Covid pandemic

“Mistakes and misjudgements” were made in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon has said following the release of a critical report by the Covid-19 Inquiry.

The former first minister said she had “no doubt” that some of the decisions she took were the wrong ones, but insisted they were take on the “basis of the best information and advice that we had available to us”.

She accepted the inquiry’s conclusion that all four governments of the UK did “too little, too late” in responding to the threat of the virus.

In particular, she said that “restrictions should have been introduced earlier”.

The report also highlighted the centralised nature of some decision-making within the Scottish Government, highlighting that it “rested with a small group of ministers”.

The existence of the so-called ‘Gold Command’ group led by Sturgeon “meant that ministers and advisers were often excluded from decision-making”, it said, adding that structure “diminished the role of the Scottish Cabinet”.

As a result Cabinet “frequently became a decision-ratifying body and not the ultimate decision-making body”, it concluded.

Sturgeon told reporters on Thursday that she stood by the decision to lead the response in this manner.

She said: “My ministers and all the relevant officials played a full part in decision making. However, it was a very conscious and deliberate decision at the outset of the pandemic to lead from the front and to make very clear that the buck stopped with me.

“I want to be clear today that I stand by that decision and if the clock was to be turned back, I would make that decision again.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes made a statement to the parliament to formally respond to the inquiry report into decision-making and political governance.

She accepted that “mistakes were made” by the Scottish Government but ministers were “committed to learning from the past”.

She added: “With the benefit of hindsight, we acknowledge that some choices – made in good faith at the time and under immense pressure – may not have always been the right ones.”

Opposition MSPs were critical of the decision to issue a statement so close to the report publication, suggesting the SNP was shying away from scrutiny.

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said it left parliamentarians with no time to read or digest the report before putting questions to the deputy first minister, adding: “It does appear to be part of a pattern of secrecy and cover-up exposed by this inquiry.”

And Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie described Forbes’ statement as a “masterclass in spin” because it did not address the substance of recommendations from the inquiry.

The report said devolved administrations were too reliant on the UK Government in leading the response, and has recommended reform of decision-making structures during emergencies within each government.

It went on to detail that the Scottish Government did not take the threat of the virus seriously enough in the early days, with Covid taking up little time in Scottish Cabinet meetings or Scottish Government Resilience Room meetings.

“It was only on 3 March 2020 that the Scottish Cabinet appears to have prioritised discussion of Covid-19 in its meetings,” it said. This was ten days before the first death was confirmed in Scotland, on 13 March 2020.

Forbes said the Scottish Government had started to respond to the Covid Inquiry’s first report, published in January, including participation in UK-wide exercises on pandemic preparedness.

On this report, she said ministers would “take the necessary time and space to carefully and comprehensively examine” the recommendations.

She added: “That will enable us to reflect meaningfully on the findings, consider the implications in depth, and engage constructively with the content, ensuring that any subsequent actions or responses will drive meaningful improvement.”

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with the inquiry, which is ongoing, Forbes said, and ministers “remain committed to being open and transparent”.

Fraser criticised various decisions made by ministers during the pandemic, in particular the lack of minutes on so-called ‘Gold Command’ meetings and the deletion of WhatsApp messages.

He said: “The absurd boast that this government is committed to transparency is an insult to those who lost loved ones.”

Fraser went on to say then first minister Nicola Sturgeon nor current first minister John Swinney had “taken no responsibility” for deleting WhatsApp messages, and he called for a full parliamentary debate to further discuss the report.

Baillie also called for Forbes to set out a timescale for when a formal response to the report would be forthcoming, saying that “families who lost loved ones deserve answers”.

She also said Forbes must “have the grace to apologise for the errors made by her government”.