Joanna Cherry has praised Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes over the clarity they have given on their WhatsApp messages during the Covid pandemic.

Both the First Minister and former finance secretary have said this week they did not delete any texts from the platform.

Their unambiguous statements have added to pressure on former first minister Nicola Sturgeon who has repeatedly refused to say if she removed WhatsApp messages or not.

Writing in The National today, Ms Cherry, the SNP MP for Edinburgh South West and a KC, who has been previously critical of Ms Sturgeon on other issues, underlined the importance of transparency and scrutiny as she considered what could be behind a poll published on Wednesday showing falling support for the SNP.

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"Telling the truth, transparency, and a willingness to be scrutinised and held accountable really matter. And never more so when it comes to the handling of a pandemic in which so many people lost loved ones, were deprived of the opportunity to comfort the sick and dying and lost businesses and livelihoods," she said.

"The UK and Scottish Covid inquiries were set up not as a blame game but to examine what went wrong and why, and how we avoid making the same mistakes again. 

"They simply cannot do that without all the relevant information about decision-making at the time. This week’s revelations have shown the importance of WhatsApp messages and discussions in revealing what was really going on behind the scenes in Number 10.

"Anyone who was conducting business while working from home or a key worker trying to maintain social distancing during the pandemic knows fine well that the use of WhatsApp expanded beyond a replacement for passing chat in the corridor or at the water cooler to encompass meaningful discussions on decisions that needed to be made. 

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"That’s why WhatsApp messages are important and should not have been deleted, particularly once it was known that there was to be an inquiry."

She added: "Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes seem to have grasped that was the case. If others did not, they need to say so, and explain themselves. The current muddle cannot be allowed to continue.

"Nobody expects the WhatsApp messages exchanged by Scottish ministers and their civil servants and advisers to reveal the same sort of toxic mayhem as there was in Downing Street, but they may shed light on why other decisions that resulted in adverse outcomes were taken. 

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"For example, the discharge of old people from hospitals into care homes, untested or worse still, after having tested positive.

"The unfolding WhatsApp saga will not help us rebuild support for the SNP unless the promises of transparency move from words to deeds. The approach of Humza and Kate is the sort of approach that is needed to regain the trust of ordinary voters."

Speaking at First Minister's Questions yesterday Mr Yousaf has refused to say that Ms Sturgeon acted within the law over deleted WhatsApp messages being sought by the UK Covid inquiry.

The First Minister did not defend his predecessor over the legalities of destroying messages when challenged on the controversy at Holyrood.

It came as the inquiry said there was no restriction on Ms Sturgeon saying whether or not she had deleted her messages, as was reported over the weekend.

Ms Sturgeon this week said she was “committed to full transparency” but could not comment because “responses at this stage are confidential until the inquiry says otherwise”.

However, the inquiry confirmed that although witness statements and other evidence is confidential until they are produced during proceedings, there are no other restrictions on what witnesses may say to the press or others.

This means that Ms Sturgeon could confirm if she deleted WhatsApp messages but could not divulge what was in any evidence she had submitted.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, said the “secretive approach” is treating families left bereaved by the virus “with contempt”.

He hit out at an “auto-delete” policy he said had been introduced by the Scottish Government, adding: “This is the digital equivalent of building a bonfire to torch the evidence.”

Under the Inquiries Act, it is an offence for someone to “intentionally alter or destroy” any evidence that they “know or believes to be a relevant document”.

Mr Ross asked Yousaf if he accepted “that if Nicola Sturgeon or any government minister has destroyed WhatsApp messages relevant to the inquiry, they would be breaking the law?”.

Mr Yousaf replied: “In terms of accountability and transparency, Nicola Sturgeon stood up day after day, virtually every single day, did 250 media briefings, 70 parliamentary statements.”
He described that as “full accountability, full transparency” from Ms Sturgeon during the pandemic.

Mr Yousaf has said that he will hand over all of his pandemic messages, despite Scottish Government guidance saying social media messaging should be deleted after 30 days.

The First Minister’s spokesman did not say why he had retained the content against policy but confirmed that he had retrieved the messages from an old mobile phone.

The Scottish Government is now in the process of handing over 14,000 WhatsApp messages to the UK Covid-19 inquiry. Mr Yousaf insisted his government is “absolutely committed to being transparent, to being accountable”.

The row over the messages was sparked last week when Jamie Dawson KC, counsel to the UK inquiry, said “no messages” from within the Scottish Government had yet been provided.