Green minister Lorna Slater claims she does not use a Scottish Government-issued phone

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Green MSP has claimed she does not use an official Scottish Government phone.Lorna Slater, the minister for the circular economy, also denied using WhatsApp for any government business.It comes amid a mounting secrecy row after senior Holyrood officials and politicians were accused of failing to hand over records of informal communications to the UK Covid Inquiry.Lawyers representing bereaved families have demanded messages relating to the official response to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021 be handed over.It emerged today that WhatsApp messages sent by Nicola Sturgeon from the time of the public health emergency may have been manually deleted.Government ministers are routinely issued with secure phones and laptops when they take up their positions.

Asked if she used the messaging app, Slater told BBC Scotland: "I don't use WhatsApp for government business, no."Personal business, sometimes party business, volunteering work that I do, chatting with my friends, and sharing silly memes - all that stuff."But government business is only done on government devices."Slater joined the Scottish Government as a minister in August 2021 following the Bute House Agreement between the Greens and SNP.There were still widespread coronavirus restrictions in place at the time but she denied ever seeing WhatsApp messages on pandemic decision-making."All government correspondence goes through official channels," she added. "There are very secure government devices where all that work is done, where it can be monitored and shared out under FOI and other transparency procedures as needed."Asked if she used auto-deletion on WhatsApp, Slater continued: "I don't have a government phone, my phone is for my personal use, and there has