Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon is giving evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry today and will provide insights into how decisions were made by her administration during the pandemic.
Ahead of her appearance, notable figures like Scotland's national clinical director Jason Leitch have spoken to the inquiry while a great deal of attention has been paid to WhatsApp messages sent by close allies.
A number of comments about politicians like former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have been attributed to Sturgeon but how true are these?
Did Nicola Sturgeon actually call Boris Johnson a 'f****** clown' or compare Liz Truss to a 'marzipan d****'?
Today, we hear evidence from Nicola Sturgeon (Former First Minister for Scotland 🏴)
— UK Covid-19 Inquiry (@covidinquiryuk) January 31, 2024
Watch live from 10:00 (with a three minute delay) on our 📺YouTube channel 👇👇https://t.co/n03rrwuLGm pic.twitter.com/2J2ugM6CAb
While a number of WhatsApp messages attributed to Nicola Sturgeon were not actually made by the former SNP leader, the widely reported one about Boris Johnson was real.
She referred to Boris Johnson as a "f****** clown" to her chief of staff Liz Lloyd, referring to his communication skills.
Speaking of the former prime minister's briefing to the public, she added that his "incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere”.
Sturgeon also said that Boris Johnson's comms "are [beyond] awful" before telling Lloyd "We're not perfect but we don't get nearly enough credit for how much better than them we are."
Other comments attributed to Nicola Sturgeon are not authentic, with these coming from a satirical account on Twitter/X, called Politics For You.
The account claimed that she was "urged to apologise" after describing Matt Hancock as "weaker than nuns p***" and Liz Truss as “about as much use as a "marzipan d****".
BREAKING 🚨🚨🚨
— Politics For You (@PoliticoForYou) January 25, 2024
Nicola Sturgeon urged to apologise after leaked WhatsApp messages describing Matt Hancock as “Weaker than a nuns piss,” Liz Truss as “About as much use as a marzipan dildo,” and referring to Suella Braverman as “Shitler.” pic.twitter.com/v94gHb04i7
She was also said to have referred to Suella Braverman as "Sh*tler".
These comments were not real. The "marzipan d****" comment was actually from The Thick Of It where Malcolm Tucker, uses the insult against an unnamed person.
The posts went viral despite the fact they were not real, being viewed millions of times.
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