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UK Government did not use pandemic to strengthen union, Gove tells inquiry

The Levelling Up Secretary did suggest that Scottish ministers diverged on certain policies to enhance the case for Scottish independence.

Rebecca McCurdy
Monday 29 January 2024 09:26 EST
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, leaves the UK Covid-19 inquiry hearing at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) (Jane Barlow/PA)
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, leaves the UK Covid-19 inquiry hearing at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

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The UK Government did not use the Covid-19 pandemic to strengthen support for the union, Michael Gove has said, as he argued Scottish ministers diverged on policy to advance their ā€œpolitical agendaā€.

The Levelling Up Secretary told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry as it sits in Edinburgh that language used in WhatsApp messages between former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and her then chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, about starting a ā€œgood old-fashioned rammyā€ with the UK Government showed clear ā€œtemptationā€ to use the pandemic for political gain.

He said: ā€œSome of the language used, the desire to have a ā€˜good old-fashioned rammy with the UK Governmentā€™ and some of the other language used ā€¦ does lead me to believe that at that point, there was a desire to pursue differentiation for the sake of advancing a political agenda.ā€

He added: ā€œThere are, and were, occasions when the Scottish Government was thinking politically, as we can see, and, of course, it is the case the SNP has a political mission to achieve Scotlandā€™s independence, i.e. destroy the United Kingdom and it would be naive not to be aware that highly skilled politicians, including those at the top of the Scottish Government, might well see what they perceive to be political advantage at certain points.

ā€œBut, I think, itā€™s important to note that while that did happen at certain points, the day-to-day management of the pandemic preoccupied them as it did other ministers.ā€

Mr Gove, who served as a Cabinet Office minister during the pandemic, with a focus on intergovernmental relations, told the inquiry the relationship between the UK and the devolved administrations was for the ā€œmost part constructiveā€ in relation to the day-to-day management of the pandemic.

I think almost all of the time decisions were made in the public health benefit of the people of Scotland

Michael Gove, Levelling Up Secretary

However, counsel to the inquiry Jamie Dawson KC later showed Mr Gove a Government document produced by him entitled ā€œstate of the unionā€.

It showed the 70% of the surveyā€™s respondents believed the Scottish Government were implementing the right pandemic procedures, compared to 27% for the UK Government.

Mr Gove wrote of changing ā€œthe perceptionā€ in the report, adding: ā€œThereā€™s a real opportunity to outline how being part of the union has significantly reduced the hardship faced by individuals and businesses.ā€

Asked by Mr Dawson if he was ā€œsetting out a strategy to use the Covid-19 pandemic to strengthen the union, Mr Gove said: ā€œI think itā€™s the case that Iā€™m seeking to make sure that people appreciate the way in which the existence of the United Kingdom and its institutions has enabled us to deal effectively with the Covid pandemic.ā€

He added that the UK Government had to address the appearance it was ā€œhiding its light under a bushelā€.

Later, Mr Gove said the Scottish Government ā€œdid not want intergovernmental relations to workā€.

Mr Gove also told the inquiry: ā€œI think, almost all of the time decisions were made in the public health benefit of the people of Scotland.

ā€œBut I think the Scottish Government believed that its handling of these matters was somehow superior to that of the UK Government and that people would appreciate that and be prompted to think how much better might life be if we gave the Scottish Government more powers and moved further down the path to independence.ā€

He also told the inquiry that former finance secretary Kate Forbes had been one of the ā€œmost constructiveā€ ministers in the Scottish Government, but former first minister Nicola Sturgeon was ā€œsometimes politicalā€ in her correspondence with UK counterparts.

He also said former prime minister Boris Johnson was ā€œirritatedā€ by Ms Sturgeonā€™s ā€œdivergentā€ decision to ban large gatherings shortly after a UK Cobra meeting had concluded.

The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett, continues.

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