Covid inquiry: Hancock found Sturgeon 'unhelpful' during pandemic
- Published
Matt Hancock said he preferred when decisions were taken by the four UK health secretaries
Matt Hancock has described the way Nicola Sturgeon communicated UK-wide decisions during the Covid pandemic as unhelpful and confusing to the public.
The former UK health secretary said Ms Sturgeon would sometimes leave a meeting and begin communicating a decision sooner than agreed.
Mr Hancock was giving a second day of evidence at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
A spokesperson for Ms Sturgeon said there was "not a scrap of evidence" for Matt Hancock's claims.
Mr Hancock had said it was much more difficult when decisions were taken at first minister level rather between health ministers.
That was because some "spin" would be added by the first ministers' teams and "particularly with Nicola Sturgeon".
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon began daily Covid briefings in March 2020
Ms Sturgeon was Scotland's first minister and SNP leader from 2014 until earlier this year.
During the pandemic, she gave almost daily briefings and updates to the public.
The inquiry was shown WhatsApp messages sent by Mr Hancock in July 2020.
They concerned measures imposed by the UK government which ordered people returning from Spain to isolate for 14 days to help slow the spread of the virus.
Prior to the announcement, Mr Hancock was told Number 10 wanted to communicate the matter "asap", and the former health secretary replied: "Me too. It will leak anyway - and the Scots will try to get their announcement out first."
More on Covid and the Covid Inquiry
He was asked by Claire Mitchell KC, representing Scottish Covid Bereaved at the inquiry: "What is the issue with the first minister communicating that to the people of Scotland first?"
Mr Hancock said: "There were a number of moments when the first minister of Scotland would communicate in a way that was unhelpful and confusing to the public.
"Sometimes, (she) would leave a meeting and begin communication of a decision, for instance, sooner than agreed."
Mr Hancock added: "We found it much more difficult when decisions went up to first minister level, particularly with Nicola Sturgeon.
"Because we would find that sometimes some kind of spin was put on what was essentially substantively the same decision.
"So it was a frustration, I've got to be honest about that."
'Protect the country'
A spokesperson for Ms Sturgeon later said Mr Hancock "should be taking responsibility for his own decisions - as Nicola will do when she gives evidence to the inquiry early next year - rather than seeking to blame others".
"Nicola communicated openly and frankly with the people of Scotland on a daily basis," the spokesperson added.
"It was her duty in the grave situation we faced to take and communicate clearly the decisions necessary to protect the country as far as possible.
"She was accountable to the Scottish people in discharging that duty, not to Matt Hancock."
In contrast, Mr Hancock said he had a "constructive relationship" with his health secretary counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Their weekly briefings - which featured Scotland's health minister Jeane Freeman - felt like "therapy sessions", Mr Hancock said.
He said they left politics at the door and, when there were tensions, those were resolved in a professional, business-like manner.
The inquiry continues.