Is Nicola Sturgeon in the SNP deep freeze? First Minister Humza Yousaf reveals he has not spoken to his predecessor since her husband Peter Murrell was arrested and their home searched in party finance probe
- Yousaf admitted that had not spoken to her since cops questioned Peter Murrell
- Elected a month ago, he could be reasonably expected to chat to predecessor
Nicola Sturgeon has been given the cold shoulder by her successor as SNP leader since her husband was arrested in a police probe into the party’s finances.
First Minister Humza Yousaf admitted that had not spoken to her since detectives questioned Peter Murrell and searched their family home in Glasgow earlier this month.
He was elected just a month ago and could be reasonably expected to chat to his predecessor and ask for advice after her eight years in office.
But he told LBC radio they had not been in touch since the party was plunged into crisis over a police probe into missing donations worth more than £600,000.
He said: ‘Nicola and I will speak though. And we’ll do that once she hopefully returns back to Holyrood. And I think that would be the right place to do that. Of course, I want to check in with her and her welfare.
Ms Sturgeon yesterday returned to the Scottish Parliament for the first time since her husband’s arrest. She said the situation was a ‘nightmare’ but denied quitting as first minister because she knew it was coming.
Further questions were also raised over the purchase of a £110,000 campervan by the party and discovered at the home of Mr Murrell’s mother.
Former treasurer Colin Beattie yesterday denied being aware it had been bought, only to change his mind hours later.
Ms Sturgeon yesterday returned to the Scottish Parliament for the first time since her husband’s arrest.
First Minister Humza Yousaf admitted that had not spoken to her since detectives questioned Peter Murrell and searched their family home in Glasgow earlier this month.
Further questions were also raised over the purchase of a £110,000 campervan by the party and discovered at the home of Mr Murrell’s mother. Former treasurer Colin Beattie yesterday denied being aware it had been bought, only to change his mind hours later.
Ms Sturgeon last night spoke of her ‘trauma’ at the implosion of the SNP – as her successor offered to prop up a Labour government in return for a second independence referendum.
In an impromptu briefing for journalists yesterday she declined to comment on whether she now faces arrest – but insisted that the controversy was not the trigger for her shock resignation in February.
‘I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and that’s why I walked away,’ she said.
‘Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks.’
She added: ‘Clearly the events of the last few weeks have been difficult and – I use this word advisedly and deliberately – in some respects very traumatic.
‘But I accept that is the nature of the process that is under way right now.’
Her comments came as Mr Yousaf revealed he was willing to put Sir Keir Starmer in No 10 in return for another independence referendum.
Sir Keir has tried to calm fears he would usher in the break-up of the UK in the event of a hung parliament by ruling out a deal with the SNP.
But Mr Yousaf indicated that his door would be open if Labour falls short of a majority at next year’s General Election. But he said his price would be the UK Government signing off a ‘Section 30 order’ to allow another referendum.
He told LBC Radio: ‘We would certainly be willing to co-operate with a Labour government because we want to see the back of the Tories.
‘But of course, that would come at a cost. And of course, the first demand I would make would be to get powers over a Section 30 Order and having that devolved to Scotland…
‘If there is a hung Parliament, then of course, we will co-operate, I’ll say that unequivocally. We’ll co-operate with anybody that is a progressive political party that’s looking to see the back of the Tories, but there will be a price.’
The police probe into the SNP’s finances has sent the party into meltdown.
Detectives are investigating what happened to more than £600,000 in donations raised between 2017 and 2020 to fight a second referendum.
Accounts at the end of 2019 showed the party had just £97,000 in the bank and only £272,000 in assets.
Returning to the Scottish Parliament for the first time since her husband’s arrest, Ms Sturgeon said she had not been questioned by the police.
She added: ‘What I will say up front is that I’m not going to go into any detail that impinges on a live police investigation.
‘There are many questions that I would want to be able to answer and in the fullness of time I hope I will answer but it would be wrong and inappropriate for me to go into any detail of what the police are currently investigating.’
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon might have taken some questions but she has given no answers.
‘Her attempt to downplay the extraordinary chaos we’re seeing in the SNP is an insult to the public’s intelligence.’
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