Dawson recalls comments made by former deputy first minister, John Swinney, in his evidence last week that described relationships at the start of the pandemic as "pretty poor".

Gove says he does not agree with Swinney's assessment, denying that relationships between the governments were poor due to "divergent political views on Brexit.

He says that once again, he appreciated the professionalism of Scottish ministers, even when facing a possible no-deal Brexit which they did not want. He says "personalities do matter" in politics.

Gove says there were people in the Scottish government who were more constructive than others - of whom MSP Kate Forbes was one.

Continuing his remarks on the relations between the prime minister and the Scottish first minister during Covid, Gove points out that the UK PM has greater range of responsibilities than the FM.

So he may choose to appoint another minister to have discussions with first ministers, he says - as Boris Johnson did.

Michael Gove says he does not think either Nicola Sturgeon or former SNP President Michael Russell could remove from their thinking the desire to see independence in due course. But he says they they redeployed their resources to tackle the pandemic.

The levelling up secretary says there were other occasions when "looked at things through a particular political prism " and there were occasions when divergence was being considered through a political lens".

The questioning turns to the evidence last week from Liz Lloyd, who served as chief of staff to Sturgeon while she was first minister. Lloyd said she wanted "a good-old fashioned rammy", meaning a public spat.

Gove says this phrase showed there was a search for political conflict rather than simply a divergence in policy conclusions.

Hancock messages highlight longstanding issue of devolutionpublished at 11:10 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January

11:10 GMT 29 January

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Earlier the inquiry looked at messages in which former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock expressed his unhappiness about the devolved nations being involved in meetings with the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC). He argued that you wouldn't include local authorities in such a forum.

This is evidence of one of the longstanding issues of devolution.

Some UK ministers just don't get it. This is not a new phenomenon. The former prime minister, Tony Blair, caused consternation, when he once referred to the powers of the Scottish Parliament as being akin to a parish council.

The Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove - a Scot himself - has a much better understanding and arguably respect for the devolved settlement. He’s suggested the degree of fiscal devolution is something the inquiry might want to consider.

We've already heard from Scottish government witnesses who've argued that their hands were tied because Westminster held the purse strings.

But ultimately, Gove concluded that current set of responsibilities was broadly right and the existing constitutional arrangements didn't prevent effect decision-making.

Expect the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to take a different view.

The inquiry is shown a historic tweet by former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who had that day welcomed then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Scotland. The post said the PM's presence highlighted one of the key arguments of independence for Scotland to make its own decisions.

Dawson recalls that during the visit, the prime minister emphasised the might of the union and asks whether this indicates the UK and Scottish government's were "playing politics at this stage".

Gove says: "I do not believe that's true of the UK government." He goes on to say the prime minister is the PM for everyone in the country, whether or not everyone voted for them.

He says he recognises the political point Sturgeon was trying to make, and that he does not object to her "perfectly legitimate" view.

Gove denies the UK government was politically motivated itself, and was trying to use its response to Covid to keep the UK together.

But he does say that a belief in the "integrity of a political unit like the UK" was a duty for him and for other government ministers.

Jamie Dawson KC asks if there was a completely dysfunctional relationship between the two governments. Gove denies this, reiterating that he has great respect for Scottish government ministers and the way they acted.

But he points out that highly skilled politicians - including those at the top of the Scottish government - might well seek political advantage at certain times.

Dawson asks whether the then-first minister of Scotland managed the response to Covid to further the cause of independence. Gove replies no, but suggests that the FM and those working for her were thinking politically.

Gove alleges that supporters of independence have the aim to portray the United Kingdom as a "dysfunctional entity", saying they will often point to disagreements between the central and devolved governments as evidence that "the UK is broken".

He says that day-to-day disagreements between the UK and Scottish governments during the pandemic were no different to disagreements between central and regional governments in other countries like France or Germany.

He says: "But while I have great respect for the integrity and professionalism of Scottish ministers, when it came to the handling of individual pandemic choices, we have to bear in mind that the political aim of the SNP is to destroy the United Kingdom, and from time to time they will make political points to that end."

Gove is talking about setting up four-nations meetings: discussions of Covid by the governments of the devolved nations. Jamie Dawson KC asks if the meetings took place because relations between the nations had "failed".

Gove says no; there just needed to be frank and open discussions of options open to them, just as there had been four-nations meetings in anticipation of a potential no-deal Brexit.

Image source, UK Covid inquiry

Image source, UK Covid inquiry

Gove further defends the work of the UK government during the pandemic, with particular reference to the vaccine rollout.

"Of course the Scottish government and those working within the Scottish NHS played a heroic role in supporting that," he says. "I would take nothing away from them."

But, he adds: "It is important to recognise there were critical elements of the pandemic response where we benefited from having the broad shoulders of the UK Treasury, and indeed the international negotiating and purchasing power of the UK government."

Dawson asks Gove about instances in which Scottish ministers felt decisions had already been made by their UK counterparts, and they were simply being told what those decisions were.

Gove says he doesn't believe the evidence would justify this view. He says various decisions highlighted that Scottish government and other devolved administrations would often choose "a different path".

He explains that "effective coordination and a unified approach wherever possible was desirable". But, he says, there were "occasions where the Scottish government chose a different communication strategy, a different set of lockdown metrics, different ratios for when people could meet outside and so on.

And we not only respected that, but sought to work with the devolved administrations in that area."

Gove says some UK ministers found it "irksome" that they had to deal with devolved administrations, which may have taken a different view during the pandemic.

But overall the UK government was "inclusive", he insists.

He says some individuals may have expressed "irritation" at the need to take account of devolved administrations' views. But it wasn't from a lack of respect, Gove says.

Image source, UK Covid inquiry

Matt Hancock - the UK's health secretary at the height of Covid - remains the focus of discussion.

"Matt - and I think this was a good thing - was a bullish, determined, energetic minister who wanted to ensure that there was rapid and effective action taken in dealing with the virus," says Gove.

The levelling up secretary adds: "I didn't seek to temper Matt's energy, but I did seek to ensure that we were operating on all fours with the devolved administrations."

Dawson shows some historic messages between Gove, the UK's then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Dominic Cummings, who was then serving as the top adviser to PM Boris Johnson.

Hancock's messages state that the four nations' approach to joint biosecurity centre (JBC) governance should be managed by a "a UK body like MI5".

He is also recorded saying: "There is no need for it to be run through a committee of the four nations. We wouldn't put English local authorities on the board. Public health emergencies are a reserved matter."

Gove insists that the sort of constitutional questions that have been under discussion so far today did not impede the day-to-day work of the UK government during the pandemic.

He says there were arrangements made beforehand with the Scottish government for how to deal with a pandemic - but says these plans mainly focused on flu.

He says that "yes, clarity would be preferable" over devolved responsibilities, but that on a practical day-to-day basis, "I don't believe" devolution issues were "material" considerations.

Michael Gove says the UK Civil Contingencies Act was "too Draconian" for use during the pandemic, as it exists to react to a catastrophe out of the "blue sky" like a terrorist attack. He characterises the Covid pandemic as something that did not meet that threshold.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 was passed giving lockdown powers to the Scottish government from 26 March 2020.

Gove says the Scottish government has tended to "push the boundaries" of devolution.

The levelling up secretary says: "If the UK government had not chosen to act, the Scottish government would undoubtedly have pressed us to grant them powers in order to be able to have the non-pharmaceutical interventions, the lockdown powers, that were subsequently exercised."

Gove says the day-to-day management by ministers in the devolved administrations and in the UK government was "for the most part constructive".

Inquiry lawyer Jamie Dawson continues to ask whether issues persisted around which matters were the responsibility of which government.

Gove says he "wouldn't want to jump the gun" about the degree of fiscal responsibility the Scottish government enjoys and whether it should be greater.

He says: "During the course of the pandemic, I did not see any real angst about the constitutional situation preventing effective decision-making and an effective response."

After accepting that "greater clarity" is needed in the different remits of the Scottish and UK governments, Gove goes on to say that the devolution settlement evolves over time.

"We can learn from our virus response how to improve the devolution settlement," he says.

But he adds that he thinks the current set of responsibilities is "broadly right."

Image source, UK Covid inquiry

Michael Gove is returning to give evidence to the inquiry, having previously appeared in November, when hearings were in London.

Inquiry lawyer Jamie Dawson KC starts by running through Gove's witness statements and CV, including his time as minister for intergovernmental relations.

Today's evidence will be about the Scottish government's decision-making and UK government decisions as they pertained to Scotland.

The relationship between the devolution settlement and the pandemic response will also come into focus, says Dawson.

He asks about cross-border co-operation during the pandemic.

Gove says: "I think there is a case for greater clarity overall about devolved and reserved responsibilities."

Image source, UK Covid inquiry

Michael Gove is sworn in and will now kick off today's evidence session.