If there’s one thing that both Covid Inquiries have reliably provided, it’s expletives. Use of foul-mouthed language was popular among Boris Johnson’s top team, but members of the Scottish government were prone to the odd swear word or ten. And today’s Covid hearing has revealed that some obscenities came from, um, none other than the Dear Leader herself.

This morning’s hearing in Edinburgh heard from former Sturgeon aide and self-confessed close confidant of the former first minister, Liz Lloyd. Lloyd is unusual in the fact she did actually retain all her WhatsApp messages (and even handed them over to the inquiry ahead of time) – although she may now be wishing she hadn’t been quite so transparent…

In a conversation between Lloyd and Sturgeon, the former first minister made some rather, er, uncomplimentary remarks about the Prime Minister of the day. ‘He is a f***ing clown,’ Sturgeon raged to Lloyd. ‘This is f***ing excruciating – their comms are AWFUL… His utter incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere.’ Ouch. Wee Nicky certainly has a way with words…

NEW: Nicola Sturgeon described Boris Johnson as a “fucking clown” in WhatsApp messages to her then chief of staff, Liz Lloyd. pic.twitter.com/EGzew6Jpzt

— Alistair Grant (@alistairkgrant) January 25, 2024

With more unflattering disclosures set to come as the hearing continues, Mr S isn’t surprised that Sturgeon’s own copies of the WhatsApp messages all managed to miraculously disappear…