You promised transparency..and you failed

Yousaf denies misleading Scottish Parliament

- ANDREW QUINN

HUMZA Yousaf has denied claims he misled Holyrood over his dealings with the UK Covid Inquiry.

The First Minister apologised after admitting the Scottish Government had interpreted requests for vital messages "too narrowly" but he "absolutely" refuted claims that he lied to the Scottish Parliament.

Deputy First Minister Shona Robison was forced to release a timeline of events on Wednesday, stating that requests for WhatsApp messages had been made in February as opposed to September, which they had claimed previously.

When Yousaf was asked to admit he "didn't tell the truth" by Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, he replied: "I absolutely refute that.

"Clearly, I was talking about specific WhatsApp groups.

"Where I do accept fully from the inquiry is that we have interpreted their requests too narrowly and subsequently, having done so, we have then supplied 14,000 messages to the inquiry.

"I have, of course, handed over the WhatsApp messages that I have, unredacted, to the inquiry.

Both Yousaf and Robison told Holyrood last week that the UK Covid Inquiry had asked the Scottish Government for WhatsApp messages in September.