Nicola Sturgeon was sent flowers by the SNP after ‘traumatic’ interrogation at Covid Inquiry
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Nicola Sturgeon was sent flowers by the SNP following her “traumatic” interrogation at the Covid Inquiry, in a move branded an insult to grieving families.
The former first minister, as well as John Swinney, her former deputy, were sent large bouquets by the SNP group at Holyrood, following several hours of questioning about their handling of the pandemic.
SNP insiders said the gesture was a recognition that the politicians may have been left “deflated and traumatised” by the experience.
Ms Sturgeon was on the brink of tears several times as she was accused of politicising the pandemic and hoarding power and challenged over the deletion of all her WhatsApp messages.
‘So angry flowers were sent’
However, the gift was branded insensitive by relatives of the deceased, who in some cases were unable to say goodbye to loved ones due to the policies put in place by Ms Sturgeon.
“I’m so angry flowers were sent to them,” Jackie Marlow, who is part of a group of relatives suing her late mother’s care home following her death in April 2020, told the Scottish Mail on Sunday.
“During my mum’s last weeks in that care home, I would have loved nothing more than to visit and take her flowers, but I was repeatedly denied that opportunity.
“There was no compassion shown by the Scottish Government when they made rules that kept families apart.
“And there was certainly no compassion when Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney deleted their messages to cover their own backs.”
It is understood that the decision to send the bouquets was taken by SNP politicians in the Scottish Parliament.
They also sent Ms Sturgeon flowers last June, following her arrest as part of the ongoing investigation into SNP finances. She was released without charge and denies wrongdoing.
Humza Yousaf, who succeeded Ms Sturgeon, has so far rejected calls to distance himself from his predecessor.
He said last week that he found it “very hard” to watch her evidence session, and spoke to her afterwards to “see how she was”.
‘Repugnant decisions’
However, Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said grieving families would be right to feel “appalled” about the flowers.
He added: “This is a crassly insensitive insult to the bereaved and those who suffered as a result of repugnant decisions made by Nicola Sturgeon and her government.”
Ms Sturgeon insisted she deleted all her WhatsApp messages, meaning they could not be handed to the inquiry, as she was following Scottish government policies.
She strongly denied that her government had politicised the pandemic to boost support for independence, though the claim was contradicted by some evidence unearthed by the inquiry.
An SNP spokesman said: “Our deepest condolences go out to every person who suffered a bereavement throughout the pandemic.”
