Nicola Sturgeon described Boris Johnson as a “clown” during the pandemic, a series of foul-mouthed messages shown to the COVID inquiry has revealed.
The exchange between the former first minister and her chief of staff Liz Lloyd took place on 31 October 2020 as the then prime minister appeared on TV to announce the second national lockdown.
Ms Sturgeon hit out at the UK government’s communications, stating: “This is f****** excruciating – their comms are awful.
“His utter incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere.”
Ms Lloyd said she was “offended” on behalf of special advisers everywhere.
Ms Sturgeon replied: “He is a f****** clown.”
Image: The foul-mouthed exchange between Nicola Sturgeon and Liz Lloyd. Pic: UK COVID-19 Inquiry
Ms Lloyd’s evidence comes amid ongoing scrutiny over messages exchanged by ministers and officials during the pandemic.
Usman Tariq, junior counsel to the inquiry, highlighted an exchange made on 22 September 2020.
In a message sent to Ms Lloyd just two hours before a briefing in light of differing Westminster regulations, Ms Sturgeon said: “We haven’t thought about weddings. They are reducing but not sure what to.”
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Special adviser Ms Lloyd responded they should “just leave it” as the Scottish government had recently increased the number of guests allowed to 20.
Image: Ms Lloyd with former first minister Ms Sturgeon in 2019. Pic: PA
Mr Tariq asked: “Is this not an example of a decision that was made very much at the last minute over WhatsApp between you and Nicola Sturgeon?”
Ms Lloyd said she did not view this as making a decision because it had already been made in cabinet.
She refuted a suggestion the message implied the decision was “made on the hoof”, arguing that sticking with the numbers determined earlier via scientific evidence was a “more coherent” position.
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Nicola Sturgeon branded Boris Johnson a ‘clown’ in a message during the pandemic
Ms Lloyd was said to be in favour of telling the public about a Nike conference in Edinburgh, the location of Scotland’s first recognised outbreak of the virus.
Then chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood strongly advised against it, citing patient confidentiality.
Ms Lloyd said she had “no recollection” of reading the Scottish government’s policy of deleting informal messages after decisions had been made.
She also said she regretted not being able to provide messages prior to 1 September 2020, stating: “I thought I had them. I have sourced them, I have done everything that I am able to do as far as I can to find them.
“I thought I had retained them, and they’re not there.”
She explained that she’s not the “best administrator of devices”, adding: “I can’t say whether I actively deleted them, I can’t say whether they got lost. I don’t know.”
Image: Ms Lloyd giving evidence. Pic: PA/UK COVID-19 Inquiry
The inquiry was also shown a document from July 2020 where Brexit and Scottish independence were referenced.
In the cabinet meeting it was agreed that consideration should be given to “restarting work on independence”.
Lady Hallett, chair of the inquiry, questioned whether it looked like the “politicisation of the coronavirus pandemic” to advance the cause of independence.
Ms Lloyd replied: “It says consideration was given to this but was not done at this time.”
The inquiry is currently sitting in Edinburgh as it probes the devolved administration’s response to the pandemic.
Ms Sturgeon will appear at the inquiry next Wednesday.
Ms Lloyd’s appearance came ahead of First Minister Humza Yousaf, who was giving evidence on Thursday afternoon.
Image: Liz Lloyd arriving at the inquiry on Thursday. Pic: PA
Earlier in the week, the inquiry was shown a WhatsApp exchange in November 2021 between then health secretary Mr Yousaf and national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch.
At the time, COVID rules in Scotland meant people would not have to wear a mask if they were sitting down to eat or drink, but would if they were moving around a bar or restaurant while not drinking.
Ahead of an event, Mr Yousaf messaged: “I know sitting at the table I don’t need my mask. If I’m standing talking to folk, need my mask on?”
Mr Leitch responded: “Officially yes. But literally no one does. Have a drink in your hands at all times. Then you’re exempt. So if someone comes over and you stand, lift your drink.”
Professor Leitch rejected a suggestion that he had offered a “workaround” to the rules, while a spokesperson for Mr Yousaf said the exchange “simply shows the then health secretary seeking specific, up-to-date guidance from a senior adviser to ensure he was complying with the COVID rules”.
Image: Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk. Pic: Reuters
Image: Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo (right) arrive at the funeral of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva. Pic: PA
Jota, 28, leaves behind his wife of only 11 days, Rute Cardoso, and three young children.
His younger brother, 25, was an attacking midfielder for Penafiel in the second tier of Portuguese football.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot, captain Virgil Van Dijk and teammates including Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez were seen at the service.
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Former teammates Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho were also there.
Van Dijk carried a red wreath with Jota’s number 20, while Robertson had a wreath featuring number 30, Silva’s number at Penafiel.
Image: Manchester United and Portugal player Bruno Fernandes. Pic: PA
Image: Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool’s player Andrew Robertson. Pic: Reuters
Some of Jota’s teammates in the Portuguese national side also attended, including Bruno Fernandes, of Manchester United, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, of Manchester City, Joao Felix and Renato Veiga, of Chelsea, Nelson Semedo, from Wolves, Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio.
Ruben Neves was one of the pallbearers after flying in from Florida where he played for Al Hilal in the Club World Cup quarter-final on Friday night.
‘More than a friend’
In a post published on Instagram before the service, he told Jota he had been “more than a friend, we’re family, and we won’t stop being that way just because you’ve decided to sign a contract a little further away from us!”
Jota’s fellow Liverpool midfielder, Alexis Mac Allister, said on Instagram: “I can’t believe it. I’ll always remember your smiles, your anger, your intelligence, your camaraderie, and everything that made you a person. It hurts so much; we’ll miss you. Rest in peace, dear Diogo.”
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Porto FC president Andre Villas-Boas and Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez were also in attendance.
‘With us forever’
Speaking after the ceremony, Martinez said the period since their deaths had been “really, really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we showed we are a large, close family.
“Their spirit will be with us forever.”
The service was private, but the words spoken by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, were broadcast to those standing outside the church.
He told Jota’s children, who were not at the service, that he was praying for them specifically, as well as their mother and grandparents.
“There are no words, but there are feelings,” he said, adding: “We also suffer a lot and we are with you emotionally.”
The brothers died after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday morning.
No other vehicles are said to have been involved in the incident.
Liverpool have delayed the return of their players for pre-season following Jota’s death and players past and present paid tribute to him and his brother on social media.
Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.
MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.
Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.
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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma
In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.
“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.
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“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.
“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”
Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.
The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.
Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.
“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”
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“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.
“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”
The family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva have been joined by Liverpool stars past and present and other Portuguese players at the pair’s funeral near Porto.
Pictures below show the funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in the town of Gondomar near Porto. Click here for our liveblog coverage of the day’s events.
Image: Diogo Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso arrives for the funeral of him and his brother Andre Silva. Pic: Reuters
Image: Liverpool players Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson arrive for the funeral. Pic: Reuters
Image: Van Dijk carried a wreath with Jota’s number 20 while Andrew Robertson’s had a 30 for Andre Silva. Pic: Reuters
Image: Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. Pic: Reuters
Image: Portugal player Ruben Neves arrives at the funeral. Pic: PA
Image: Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and manager Arne Slot arrive at the funeral of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva. Pic; PA
Image: Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo (right) arrive at the funeral of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva
Image: Manchester City and Portugal player Bernardo Silva arrives at the funeral. Pic: AP
Image: The coffins are carried to the church. Pic: PA
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Miguell Rocha played with Jota for around ten years with Gondomar Sport Clube in Portugal.
Image: People line up to enter the church. Pic: AP
Image: Pallbearers carry the coffins of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: AP
Image: People gather outside the Chapel of the Resurrection. Pic: Reuters
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The former captain was seen wiping away tears as he read messages and laid his tribute down.
Image: Fans pay their respects outside Anfield in Liverpool. Pic: Reuters
Image: A board with a picture of Diogo Jota outside Anfield Stadium. Pic: PA
Image: The coffins are carried to the church. Pic: PA