During the ongoing Covid Inquiry in Edinburgh, it was revealed that Nicola Sturgeon's WhatsApp messages about the pandemic appeared to have been deleted (via The Telegraph).
This surprising development came to light when Jamie Dawson, counsel to the inquiry, revealed that the former first minister of Scotland appeared to have "retained no messages whatsoever." Nicola Sturgeon's pandemic-related WhatsApp messages were reportedly deleted in the Covid Inquiry, raising transparency concerns. Sturgeon's spokesperson asserts commitment to transparency amid growing scrutiny.
Scotland Covid Inquiry
The inquiry, currently delving into decisions made in Scotland during the pandemic, has been a focal point of attention. Sturgeon, set to be a star witness, faces scrutiny over the absence of her digital communication records.
The revelation raises questions about transparency, particularly as Sturgeon has not clarified whether she deleted these messages.
Dawson referred to a document provided by the Scottish government, stating, "Under the box 'Nicola Sturgeon,' it says that messages were not retained, they were deleted in routine tidying up of inboxes or changes of phones, unable to retrieve messages."
This suggests that at the time of the request, Sturgeon had no messages related to her pandemic management, further intensifying concerns.
A Closer Look
BBC reports that Lesley Fraser, the director general of corporate at the Scottish government, explained that newer technologies like Zoom were used during the pandemic, potentially leading to a lack of retained records.
Fraser confirmed that the government couldn't supply Sturgeon's messages from its corporate record, adding complexity to the situation.
Sturgeon's spokesperson asserted her commitment to transparency: "In the interests of everyone impacted by the Covid pandemic, Nicola is committed to full transparency to both the UK and Scottish Covid inquiries."
The spokesperson emphasized that Sturgeon handled messages in line with government policies and looked forward to providing oral evidence to the inquiry.
The context deepens with comparisons to other political figures. Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson have both claimed not to have remaining messages from the pandemic period. Johnson even suggested an inability to retrieve his own WhatsApp messages during a crucial period, pointing to a phone reset.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, however, is not appeased. He accuses Sturgeon and her deputy, John Swinney, of defying the inquiry's instructions, suggesting potential illegality.
Ross poses the question: "What were they trying to hide?" The accusation goes further, calling the deletion of messages a "digital torching of vital evidence."
How to Retrieve Deleted Whatsapp Messages
To recover your chat history, Whatsapp recommends that you confirm the existence of a pre-existing Google Account backup.
To verify, simply navigate through the Google Drive app after logging in to your Google account. Access the Menu and select Backups, where any WhatsApp backups stored on Google Drive will be clearly displayed.
Once you have confirmed the backup's availability, begin the restoration process by uninstalling and reinstalling WhatsApp. When prompted, select the Restore option rather than skipping, as skipping this step may result in losing your backup.
It is important to remember that chat history is not stored on Whatsapp servers, so they cannot help restore your backup.
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