I regret the suffering Covid inflicted, says John Swinney ahead of inquiry report

Scotland’s First Minister has spoken about his “regret” for the “suffering” experienced by many during the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking ahead of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry publishing its report into how governments across the country responded to the virus, John Swinney said it had caused “enormous damage”.

Swinney was deputy first minister in Scotland at the time of the pandemic, and when pressed to apologise for his actions on Thursday, including the deletion of messages related to decision-making, he said: “I have been very clear that I regret the suffering individuals experienced during the period of Covid.

“It did enormous damage to people. People lost loved ones, it did enormous damage to our society and we are still dealing with the consequences of Covid.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who raised the issue during First Minister’s Questions, was scathing of Swinney’s decisions during the pandemic.

Sarwar said: “John Swinney was the deputy first minister who deliberately deleted evidence, shameful and unforgivable.

“He was the education secretary who shamefully downgraded the exam results of working-class kids, and he was the Covid recovery secretary who failed to deliver any recovery.”

The Labour leader insisted the “most devasting decision” made by the Scottish Government was to allow patients to be sent from hospitals into care homes, even though some had the virus while others had not been tested for it.

Sarwar said: “Over 100 Covid positive patients were sent into care homes, over 3,000 untested patients were sent into care homes, and the devastating consequence was over 4,000 people died with Covid in care homes.”

Challenging Swinney to apologise for this “disastrous and catastrophic decision”, he added: “You don’t need clinical advice to know that sending people with the virus to live with the people most vulnerable to the virus would lead to deaths.”

Swinney insisted ministers at the time had been “dealing with an evolving situation”, adding that he understands the “scale of the impact and the damage that was done”.

With the UK inquiry due to publish its report later on Thursday, he pledged the Scottish Government would “respond accordingly to the recommendations that are made”.

This, he said, is part of efforts to “seek to learn lessons from what was a traumatic period in the country’s history”.

The First Minister told MSPs: “Covid-19 was an incredibly difficult period for everyone, and I express today my heartfelt sympathies to everyone who lost a loved one during the pandemic, and also to those who suffered a tremendous level of disruption to their lives.”

He insisted Scottish ministers had “acted at all times based on the best information available to them at the time”, and in relation to the deleted messages he said he had acted in line with Scottish Government policy.

Sarwar, however, insisted the SNP leader had a “shameful record” on Covid, telling Holyrood: “John Swinney promised recovery and he delivered catastrophe.

“At the start of this Parliament, there were 16,798 Scots waiting four hours in A&E in one month – now it is 45,639.

“At the start of this Parliament, there were 1,810 waiting for eight hours. Now it is 15,821.

“At the start of this Parliamen,t there were 96,053 waiting for inpatient treatment. Now it is 155,849.

“And at the start of this Parliament, there were 391,938 waiting for an outpatient appointment; now it is 559,077.”

Swinney said the figures from the start of the Parliament were from 2021, when Scotland was still in the midst of the Covid pandemic.

Stressing he is “determined to support our population to recover from Covid”, he said NHS activity is being scaled up under his leadership.

The First Minister said: “We had more than 10,000 extra outpatient attendances for September compared to August.

“Activity in our National Health Service has increased, with more than 31,000 extra appointments and procedures from April to September compared to the same period in 2024.

“We are now seeing the total list size and the longest waits coming down.

“We are also treating more people, with activity increasing significantly compared to last month and last year.”