Sturgeon sought counselling after ‘breaking down' at Covid inquiry
As Scotland's longest serving first minster, she was in charge of the country when the pandemic hit.
She gave hundreds of televised daily media briefings, updating the country on the fight against the virus. But she also came in for criticism for some decisions, such as transferring elderly hospital patients into care homes early in the outbreak without Covid tests being done on them.
She became tearful when she gave evidence to the inquiry as she told how 'of the many regrets' she has, 'chief of those is that we didn't lock down a week, two weeks earlier than we did'.
Ms Sturgeon, speaking as her memoir Frankly was published, said she had 'spent so long' preparing to give evidence to the inquiry, and 'thinking so deeply about all the decisions I had taken, the ones I thought were right, the ones that with hindsight maybe weren't'.
She told the BBC Newscast podcast: 'I don't think I properly prepared myself for the emotional impact of sitting in an inquiry.
'I had been through a pretty torrid time in the months leading up to that.
'I had worried that I might get emotional, but in that moment it wasn't just the breaking down and starting to cry, in that moment I was really worried I wasn't able to stop crying.
'It was just such a raw moment.'
Ms Sturgeon continued: 'In the period since standing down, lots of difficult stuff had happened. That was my lowest moment.
'It just in that moment felt I was very, very close to the edge, I just lost all sense of perspective, all sense of who I was.'
Adding that she was 'in a really bad state' at that time, Ms Sturgeon said: 'For the first and only time in my life I actually went for some counselling because I felt I needed something to help me regain that sense of equilibrium and perspective on life.'
She said a friend had 'persuaded' her to do this, and she is 'glad' she did it.
'Thankfully, reasonably quickly I managed to regain a firmer footing on life,' Ms Sturgeon said.
She also stressed she did her 'best' during the Covid pandemic, but 'like leaders everywhere, I didn't get everything right'.
She added: 'I absolutely, and I can hand on heart say this, I did my best every single day.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Spectator
31 minutes ago
- Spectator
Top five howlers from Sturgeon's memoir
Oh dear. Nicola Sturgeon's memoir Frankly was always going to have its detractors, given how divisive a figure the SNP's former Dear Leader has become. A number of those people will not have read the former first minister's tome in full (for those who want to save themselves the time, Steerpike has compiled a handy list of lowlights here) and so some of the rather, er, fiery criticism may be based more on assertions about Sturgeon's character than the contents of her 450-page project. But it is the litany of factual errors dotted across the book – which appears to be written in American English – that provokes less sympathy from Mr S. Here are some of the worst… Women elected to Holyrood Claim: Sturgeon writes that: 'In fact, more women were elected to the Scottish parliament on 6 May 1999 than had been elected in total to the House of Commons since women had first been allowed to stand in 1918.' Fact check: False. Up until 1999, over 200 women had been elected to the House of Commons since women had been first allowed to stand at the start of the 20th century, compared to the total of 48 women who had been elected to The Scottish parliament on 6 May 1999. Even if the ex-FM had written instead that she meant the number of women sitting 'at any one time' she would have been incorrect, given 120 women were elected in 1997, helped in part by Labour's landslide victory. The youngest person in the Commons Claim: Sturgeon writes that: 'Amongst the newbies was Mhairi Black, precociously talented and, at just twenty years old, the youngest person ever elected to the Commons.' Fact check: False. Christopher Monck, the 2nd Duke of Albemarle, became the Member of Parliament for Devon in February 1667 at, er, just 13 years old. Getting the history right was never Nic's strong point though, eh? Wrong MP! Claim: Sturgeon reminisces on the day after the 2015 general election, where the SNP won 56 of Scotland's 59 Westminster seats. She writes: As I finally boarded the plane to London City, I thought I could at last relax a bit, but as soon as I appeared at the front of the aircraft, passengers started to clap. I found out only much later that one of the Labour MPs we had just defeated had been on the same plane that morning. For Tom Harris, until a few hours earlier the MP for Glasgow Cathcart, my presence must have made an already miserable morning feel even worse. Fact check: Well, luckily Tom Harris himself spotted the anecdote and took to Twitter to point out the inaccuracies. 'It's the only mention I get,' he notes. 'The thing is, it isn't true.' It turns out Sturgeon got Harris mixed up with Jimmy Hood, the ex-MP for Hamilton East and Lanark, as the former Cathcart politician had decided to stay in Glasgow with his family. He adds: 'Apart from writing something based on inaccurate hearsay, what is the point of the anecdote in the first place, other than to crow – again, a decade later – about a defeated opponent?' Stay classy, Nic. With a little help from my friends… Claim: In the first few pages of her chapter on Govan, Sturgeon turns to the issue of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders – who had been pushed into liquidation after the Conservative government under Edward Heath had withdraw state subsidies from certain industries. But a rather unexpected hero came to the rescue: the Beatles' John Lennon. The ex-FM writes: 'The work-in [staged by the workers to complete orders, instead of going on strike] attracted global attention, including a £5,000 donation from John Lennon.' Fact check: Only it, er, wasn't £5,000 but a £1,000 sum, as reported by the Morning Star. Whatever happened to Sturgeon's fact-checkers?! Govan by-election Claim: Rather bizarrely, the former SNP leader writes in her memoir that her party's victory in the 1988 by-election saw Jim Sillars overturn a Labour majority of 13,000. Fact check: The Labour majority that was overturned was in fact even greater – at 19,500. A missed opportunity to boast there! It's quite the list from a former leader of Scotland, eh? Steerpike encourages readers to write in with more errors they spot…
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Sturgeon memoir: tribute to Charles Kennedy 'not genuine'
A former key ally of the late Charles Kennedy has criticised Nicola Sturgeon for failing to offer an apology for the 'indefensible bullying and hounding' of the late Liberal Democrat leader. The former First Minister's memoir Frankly, included a tribute to the Liberal Dems' former leader who died in 2015, less than a month after losing his Westminster seat in a bitterly contested election battle. Kennedy died of an alcohol-related hemorrhage less than one after losing Ross, Skye and Lochaber to the SNP's Ian Blackford. The convenor of the SNP's Ross, Skye, and Lochaber branch, Brian Smith, later resigned from his post, after he described Kennedy as a 'quisling' and 'drunken slob' during the 2015 election campaign. Craig Harrow, who served as Convenor of the Scottish Liberal Democrats until 2015 told The Herald he was 'disappointed' that Ms Sturgeon 'did not take the opportunity of her apparently candid memoir to make a genuine heartfelt apology for this disgraceful behaviour' towards his friend Charles Kennedy. READ MORE: In the memoir Sturgeon talks about becoming personally close to Kennedy during a 1996 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association trip to Australia. While in Melbourne, writes Sturgeon, the pair went to see Trainspotting in cinema as 'the only two Scots in the entire cinema, laughing uproariously at jokes that no one else understood.' The book goes on to discuss Kennedy's election defeat by Ian Blackford: "In the SNP's landslide of 2015, Charlie lost his Westminster seat to lan Blackford, who, a couple of years later, would become our Westminster leader. Obviously I was thrilled by my party's success and by my friend lan's election. But I wish we could have achieved it without the loss of Charlie's presence in Parliament. "His death, less than a month later, was a tragedy. It genuinely pains me to think that our election triumph, however unintentionally and inadvertently, might have hastened his demise. He was, without doubt, one of the most charismatic and naturally talented individuals ever to grace Scottish politics. Those few days I got to spend with him in Australia were a privilege." Copies of Nicola Sturgeon's memoir on sale in Glasgow three days before release (Image: Newsquest) In response to Sturgeon's comments, Craig Harrow told The Herald: 'There is no doubt of Charles Kennedy's charisma, talent and kindliness which contrasts with the current crop of politicians who could never fill his shoes. 'A thoroughly decent man who was popular and loved in equal measure. 'I recall the former First Minister's gracious eulogy at Glasgow University which rightly highlighted Charles' place in our nation's politics. 'But the indefensible bullying and hounding of Charles Kennedy in the 2015 campaign by Sturgeon's party was truly appalling and unacceptable in our public life and not a part of highland politics. 'It is disappointing that Ms Sturgeon did not take the opportunity of her apparently candid memoir to make a genuine heartfelt apology for this disgraceful behaviour which hurt Charles deeply in his last months. 'Recapturing Charles' former seat by the Liberal Democrat's at last year's election from Ms Sturgeon's party was a fitting tribute to him and his amazing legacy.' Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alex Cole-Hamilton said: 'Charles was indeed an extremely gifted individual, and he is hugely missed by everyone in my party. 'He met the world and its challenges with an incomparable grace, charm and intellect; it was an approach that many of those in our politics today would do well to learn from. 'That's why it was nothing short of poetry when we returned Charles' old seat back to the Liberal Democrats when Angus MacDonald was elected last year. 'As we look ahead to the next election, we want to keep building on Charles' legacy, showing people all across the Highlands that we can deliver for them on the issues that matter to them."
STV News
3 hours ago
- STV News
JK Rowling scribbles swear words over copy of Nicola Sturgeon's memoir
JK Rowling has annotated Nicola Sturgeon's memoir with sweary criticisms ahead of her review of the book. On Tuesday, the Harry Potter author mocked the former first minister for saying public spaces should be safe for women and girls. Rowling has repeatedly criticised Sturgeon for the SNP government's controversial gender recognition reforms, which would have made it easier for trans people to change their legal gender. Sturgeon has since admitted she should have paused the legislation and that she didn't anticipate some of the concerns that would be triggered. The former SNP leader has also struggled when questioned over the case of trans double rapist Isla Bryson. Bryson was originally sent to women's prison Cornton Vale before being moved to the male prison estate. Sturgeon said anybody who rapes a woman 'probably forfeits the right to be the gender of their choice'. On Tuesday, Rowling posted a picture on X of an annotated page of Frankly, Sturgeon's book, in which the former first minister writes that Scotland has a 'long way still to go to make the public sphere safe for women and girls'. Rowling wrote: 'Pages 108-9, in which our heroine opines on the need to make the 'public sphere' safe for women and girls.' The words, 'Are you f***ing kidding me?', are written across the pages in black pen. Rowling said: 'Annotating as I read to review. Might auction my scribbled-on copy, proceeds to go to [For Women Scotland]. 'Nobody who's offended by swearing should bid. Rowling highlighted a segment where Sturgeon recalled crying in a toilet at Holyrood early in her career after suffering what she now describes as 'sexual bullying' from an unnamed male MSP. Sturgeon said the bullying was designed to 'humiliate and intimidate, to cut a young woman down to size and put her in her place'. While the former SNP leader wrote that she'd like to say things are better now, she said she is not sure that's true. 'We have such a long way still to go to make the public sphere safe for women and girls,' Sturgeon wrote. 'I just worry that by the time we get there, there will be too few women left in public life for it to matter.' After previously offering to review Sturgeon's memoir for free in British newspapers, Rowling said on Tuesday she would post her full review of Frankly on her own website. 'Watch my website for my review of 'Frankly', the memoir of Scotland's (checks notes) most persecuted, misunderstood, self-critical, open-to-debate, feminist-to-her-fingertips ex-First Minister,' Rowling said on X. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
