SNP minister blasts Cabinet colleagues and Queen's Jubilee debate in leaked WhatsApp messages
18.07.2023 - 04:51
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
An SNP minister has apologised after blasting Cabinet colleagues and dismissing the late Queen’s Jubilee as “royalist b*****ks” in a spate of foul mouthed messages. Elena Whitham also criticised her party’s handling of harassment claims against sex pest MP Patrick Grady and mocked opposition MSPs.
In a series of scathing WhatsApp messages leaked to the Record, Whitham lays into Deputy First Minister Shona Robison - branding her a “cold fish” and “painful to listen to.” She also hits out at culture minister Angus Robertson, saying “the ego has landed” when he was given a cabinet job.
On the SNP’s continuing support for Grady she says: “Why are we supporting Grady? Honestly?.” She said last night: "These comments were not acceptable and I apologise sincerely."
Last night Whitham’s outbursts prompted claims the SNP group at Holyrood is in “disarray”.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said: “What these leaks go to show is that the SNP is in disarray – with a Scottish Government minister slagging off colleagues right, left and centre. The fact is that this is a party out of ideas, out of control and out of time.”
Whitham became Drugs and Alcohol Policy Minister in March, after Humza Yousaf became First Minister. Leaked messages from an internal WhatsApp group, handed to the Record, show her making disparaging comments about SNP colleagues.
She said of the then-Social Justice Cabinet Secretary Shona Robison during a Holyrood statement on poverty in 2021: “Shona needing to find her stride here. She is struggling. It is a great statement and we are doing so much amazing work but she isn’t selling it as well as she could.” She added: “She is a bit of a cold fish.”
The MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley followed up this criticism with