He told John Swinney at First Minister’s Questions he had minutes of three meetings between Scottish Government officials and the health board from December 2019 and January 2020. He said: “Counsel to the inquiry said there is no evidence of external pressure” applied to the health board. Swinney added the first time the government was aware of issues with the water was in 2018 and he said it set up the public inquiry under Lord Brodie to uncover the truth. “Political pressure was applied to open that hospital and SNP Ministers put politics before patient safety. “It resulted in infections that led to the deaths of children and possibly adults too.”