Nicola Sturgeon dodges question over ‘missing’ £600,000 campaigning funds: Departing First Minister refuses to say if she has been quizzed by police amid probe into SNP finances
- Sum was supposed to be ‘ringfenced’ to be spent on independence campaigns
- Questions were raised when SNP had less than £100,000 two years later
- Read more: The rise and fall of the ruthless and ambitious Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday refused to reveal whether she has been interviewed by police amid a probe into her party’s finances.
The departing First Minister dodged a question at the close of her resignation press conference over an inquiry into more than £600,000 which has gone ‘missing’ from the Scottish National Party’s coffers.
The huge sum – raised by independence campaigners in 2017 – was supposed to be ‘ringfenced’ to be spent on independence campaigns.
But serious questions were raised about the money when it emerged the SNP had less than £100,000 in its bank account two years later. A file was passed by police to Scotland’s Crown Office last month, asking for ‘further instructions’ on the potential fraud case.
Miss Sturgeon was asked in the closing seconds of yesterday’s press conference: ‘Have you been or do you expect to be interviewed by the police, who are looking into your party’s finances?’
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday refused to reveal whether she has been interviewed by police amid a probe into her party’s finances
Miss Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell (pictured) is chief executive of the SNP and is ultimately responsible for its accounts
The First Minister frowned as she gathered up her notes, and replied: ‘I’m not going to discuss an ongoing police investigation. I wouldn’t do it on any issue and I’m not going to do it now.’
Miss Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell is chief executive of the SNP and is ultimately responsible for its accounts.
The issue is further complicated by the fact that Mr Murrell gave his own party an interest-free £107,000 loan shortly after it emerged the SNP was suffering from cashflow issues.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy has described the loan’s timing as an ‘extraordinary coincidence’.
Miss Sturgeon has also been mocked for saying she ‘can’t remember’ when she first learned her husband had loaned the six-figure sum.
Yesterday one Nationalist MP called for Mr Murrell to resign and for a ‘neutral caretaker’ to be appointed as a new party chief executive.
The £667,000 was raised by public donation specifically for a Scottish ‘indyref2’ campaign, and the SNP later admitted that only £57,000 was spent specifically on that campaigning. It led to a police complaint being made by former SNP activist and independence campaigner Sean Clerkin, who said the money had ‘disappeared to be spent on other things without the permission of the donors’.
Questions were raised about the money when it emerged the SNP had less than £100,000 in its bank account two years later. Pictured: Sturgeon accepts the plaudits from SNP Leader Alex Salmond
READ MORE HERE: Nicola Sturgeon ran out of road… all possible paths to independence are blocked, writes ANDREW NEIL – who provides a peerless analysis of the downfall of Scotland’s First Minister
Mr Clerkin went to Police Scotland over the affair in March 2021.
After he gave his statement, the force initially said it was assessing ‘a complaint of alleged financial irregularity’.
Months later three members of the SNP’s finance and audit committee and its then treasurer Douglas Chapman, resigned accusing the party of blocking attempts to see internal ‘financial information’.
In July 2021, Police Scotland said it had received seven complaints about the fate of the original donations.
It launched a formal inquiry, reported to have included a forensic examination of SNP accounts.
But the original complainant Mr Clerkin later expressed his frustration at the slow pace of the police investigation, codenamed ‘Operation Branchform’.
Mr Clerkin lodged a complaint with Police Scotland last month after it emerged the party’s leadership had yet to be questioned 18 months after the probe officially launched.
Mr Clerkin said at the time that Miss Sturgeon, Mr Murrell and SNP treasurer Colin Beattie ‘should have been questioned long before now’.
He also raised concerns over the fact that the head of Scotland’s prosecution service, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, is politically appointed and is one of Miss Sturgeon’s ministers.
The £667,000 was raised by public donation specifically for a Scottish ‘indyref2’ campaign, and the SNP later admitted that only £57,000 was spent specifically on that campaigning. It led to a police complaint being made by former SNP activist and independence campaigner Sean Clerkin (pictured)
Last month, Police Scotland confirmed it had asked the Crown Office, the Scottish prosecution service, for ‘advice and direction’ in the case.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who was sacked from the SNP Westminster front benches two years ago over her opposition to Scottish transgender reforms, piled pressure on her party’s management last night.
‘I cannot see any circumstances in which Peter Murrell can continue as chief executive under a new leader who must be free to choose a successor,’ she said.
Police Scotland has said it has submitted a file to the Crown Office and is awaiting ‘further instruction’ as ‘the investigation continues’.
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