(C) OpenDemocracy This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Covid inquiry: Welsh government advisers ‘systematically deleted WhatsApps’ [1] [] Date: 2024-02 The Welsh government has “refused to open itself up to scrutiny” over its decision-making during the pandemic, the UK Covid inquiry has heard. A lawyer acting for Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru (CBFJC) said the group was left “bitterly disappointed” after ministers in Cardiff refused to establish an independent Wales-specific inquiry “despite repeated calls from the Welsh bereaved and political community”. Nia Gowman said the ‘special purpose committee’ the Welsh Assembly set up instead “lacks teeth” and has been likened by its own members to “using a sticking plaster to treat a bad wound”. The claims were made on the first day of Module 2B, which will examine the decisions taken by the Welsh government to limit the spread of the virus. Get our free Daily Email Get one whole story, direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up now Over 12,500 people have died in Wales as a result of contracting Covid-19. The CBFJC, which represents people who lost loved ones to the virus, hoped Wales would hold an inquiry similar to the one set up by the Scottish Parliament. Speaking today on behalf of the group, Gowman also criticised the Welsh government’s failure to declare relevant communications to the UK inquiry. She said the inquiry will be shown evidence in the coming weeks that shows “senior special advisers suspiciously and systematically deleting communications…[and] reminding themselves and others that they had agreed, quote, ‘to clear out WhatsApp chat once a week’.” Gowman said there is evidence of Vaughan Gething, who was Wales’s minister for health during the pandemic, “turning on ‘disappearing messages’”, a WhatsApp function that automatically deletes texts after a period of either 24 hours, a week or 90 days. She said that this decision – by somebody who is currently campaigning to be the new Welsh Labour leader and the country’s first minister – “beggars belief”. Gowman added that the CBFJC “look forward to hearing how the Welsh government justify the use of informal communications for government business” and learning “why full access to informal communication has not been made available to allow for full scrutiny of policy discussions and decision making”. Andrew Kinnier, the counsel to the Welsh government, told the inquiry that “neither Welsh ministers nor senior officials used WhatsApp, or indeed any other form of informal communication, as a substitute for or a supplemental means of decision making.” The issue of ministers’ deleted WhatsApp messages has cropped up throughout the course of the UK inquiry. Evidence shows that both Scottish and UK ministers have deleted WhatsApps sent during the pandemic. Summarising the CBFJC’s views, Gowman said: “The general tenor of the Welsh government's evidence is one of gloss, minimisation or the heavy caveats of hindsight.” This, she said, represents “unacceptable diversions from accountability”. Gowman also claimed that Welsh ministers had repeatedly tried “to hide behind and deflect blame onto the UK government”. “Any government would be hard-pressed to match the shocking display of arrogance and central government toxicity within Westminster at that crucial time. However, the inquiry must guard against unhelpful comparisons. “The Westminster yardstick sets the bar particularly low, the Welsh government must be judged not solely by comparison to what was happening in Westminster, but by its own standards,” she added. The inquiry continues. openDemocracy is fundraising to pay reporters to cover every day of the public hearings. Please support us by donating here. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/wales-covid-19-inquiry-lack-scrutiny-transparency-delete-whatsapps-vaughan-gething/ Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/