The Scottish government has been accused of not providing WhatsApp messages to the UK Covid Inquiry. Counsel to the inquiry, Jamie Dawson KC, expressed surprise that many messages from politicians and officials had been deleted.

He mentioned that witness statements indicated informal communications like WhatsApp, texts, Microsoft Teams, and Signal were used for discussing the Scottish government's Covid response during the pandemic.

There were at least 137 message groups being used, and the inquiry requested messages and information on group memberships, deletions, and reasons for deletion from 70 individuals.

Only one individual voluntarily provided limited access to their messages. The inquiry is considering its next steps. The UK Covid Inquiry is examining the UK's pandemic response, with a separate Scottish inquiry focused on the Scottish government's decisions.

The issue was raised during First Minister's Questions in Scotland, with Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross stating that refusing to provide the information could potentially break the law.