Sturgeon to shelve probe into handling of pandemic

NICOLA Sturgeon could escape scrutiny over her failings during the pandemic after plans for a Scottish inquiry were shelved.

Officials yesterday said there will be no specific public probe into how the crisis was handled.

The SNP is now accused of trying to ensure details of how the First Minister handled the pandemic are ‘swept under the carpet’.

The SNP manifesto stated that, if re-elected, the First Minister would commission a probe into the ‘handling of the coronavirus pandemic’. It promised families would be involved and that work would begin on setting up a probe ‘as soon as possible after the election’, it said.

But the Scottish Government said yesterday that it would instead engage in the UK-wide inquiry announced by Boris Johnson, which is due to start next year.

Officials will ‘determine if a distinct Scottish inquiry is required’ should this probe fail to begin swiftly.

The Scottish Government has been criticised over the transfer of patients to care homes, which Miss Sturgeon and then health secretary Jeane Freeman admitted was a mistake.

Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said: ‘A Scotland-specific inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic is vital if we are to learn the lessons of the crisis.

‘The Scottish Government’s specific failings on care homes and tracking and tracing must be investigated. We cannot have the failures being swept under the carpet.’ The Prime Minister said yesterday a full public inquiry into the Covid crisis will be launched next spring. He will be quizzed under oath over decisions on lockdown, care homes and PPE.

Key areas of concern include delays in ordering lockdowns, the lack of PPE at the height of the first wave, and the slow expansion of testing.

The Scottish Government said: ‘We will be engaging with the UK Government with the view the fournations inquiry is statutory, person centred and human-rights based.

‘If the UK Government does not take this forward swiftly, we will determine if a distinct Scottish inquiry is required.’

Miss Sturgeon said she ‘broadly’ welcomed Mr Johnson’s statement of a four-nations inquiry.

She added: ‘It is vital this inquiry covers all aspects of the impact and handling of the pandemic, and that bereaved families of Covid-19 victims have a say in shaping its scope.’

Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘We have repeatedly called for a full public inquiry into what happened in our care homes specifically.

‘Grieving families deserve answers over the critical mistakes made by SNP ministers. There were clear failures to protect our elderly.’

PWB Law is representing a number of families whose loved ones died in care homes. Lawyer Peter Wilson said: ‘Errors such as those admitted by Jeane Freeman will have to be examined in a Scottish context.

‘A UK-wide inquiry must address in full the situation in Scotland.’

‘Grieving families deserve answers’