THE Scottish Conservatives have been slammed for their "hypocrisy" in a social media post aimed at Professor Jason Leitch after his resignation announcement.
The Tory Twitter/X account said First Minister Humza Yousaf "still had questions to answer" and suggested Leitch should have been sacked after the UK Covid Inquiry revealed WhatsApps from the national clinical director.
SNP MP John Nicolson slammed the party for the post, and said the Tory press office's "hypocrisy is staggering" given the deletion of WhatsApps by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack.
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The Scottish Conservative account posted: "It was clear Jason Leith has to go as soon as his pandemic conduct came to light.
"But Humza Yousaf still has questions to answer over why senior SNP politicians and their officials deleted crucial WhatsApps - despite being told not to by the UK Covid Inquiry."
Nicolson replied: "The ScotTories press office hypocrisy is staggering. 'Questions to answer'?
"The Tory Scotland Secretary Alister Jack told the Covid Inquiry that he'd deleted all of his Covid Whatspp messages even though they covered UK Government Covid business."
WhatsApp messages from Leitch showed he advised then health secretary Yousaf that he could avoid wearing a mask if he had a drink in his hand.
During another exchange on WhatsApp, Leitch wrote: “WhatsApp deletion is a pre-bed ritual.”
Elsewhere, Jack (above) told the inquiry in February that he deleted all of his WhatsApp messages to free up space on his phone.
Asked about his own messages at the inquiry, Jack said: “I didn’t delete some of the messages – I deleted all of them."
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross made clear at the time that he thought Jack’s actions were also “wrong”.
Leitch announced on Tuesday his intention to step down as national clinical director in April - leading to both former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and current First Minister Yousaf thanking him for his work.
Several other politicians also thanked him with Health Secretary Neil Gray wishing him well for the future.
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