Police are seen holding shovels as they search Nicola Sturgeon’s garden and erect large forensics-style tent after arresting her husband Peter Murrell in a massive raid linked to missing SNP independence referendum cash
- Heavy police presence outside their modest Glasgow home and SNP’s Gordon Lamb House HQ in Edinburgh
- Arrest comes just a week after Ms Sturgeon was replaced as First Minister after eight years by Humza Yousaf
- Weeks earlier she had used an interview to say that she had ‘plenty in the tank’ to carry on in the role
Police officers were seen holding spades and other garden equipment as they searched Nicola Sturgeon’s back garden today after arresting her husband as part of a investigation into more than half a million pounds’ worth of missing donations given to the SNP to fund its independence drive.
Police officers, including forensics experts have spent the day going through the family home in Glasgow and the nationalist party’s Edinburgh headquarters after arresting Peter Murrell.
Murrell, the former party chief executive, as held by detectives investigating what happened to more than half a million pounds donated to the SNP to pay for a second independence referendum campaign that never materialised.
Officers with spades were this afternoon spotted digging in the garden of the modest family home the couple share.
The extraordinary scenes that have left Scottish politics in a state of turmoil come just a week after Ms Sturgeon handed over power to Humza Yousaf.
This morning he was forced this morning to defend her surprise departure as SNP leader and First Minister, insisting it was noting to do with the police investigation.
But political opponents demanded answers. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘We need Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon to urgently state what they knew and when.’
Scottish Conservative shadow constitution secretary Donald Cameron added: ‘Senior SNP politicians, including Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, must cooperate fully with the investigation into this very serious case and commit to openness and transparency.’
The ex-leader faced questions in the weeks before she stepped down over a £107,000 loan from her husband to the SNP, of which he was chief executive during her time in office
Officers with spades were this afternoon spotted digging in the garden of the modest family home the couple share, focusing on the area around their bins.
There was a heavy police presence outside the modest Glasgow home Ms Sturgeon shares with Peter Murrell, 58, this morning, including police vans and a forensics tent
Police with riot shields outside Ms Sturgeon’s home in Glasgow
Ms Sturgeon faced questions in the weeks before she stepped down over a £107,000 loan from her husband to the SNP, of which he was chief executive during her time in office
Her decision to quit last month took Scottish politics by surprise, with the SNP ahead in the polls
Weeks earlier she had used an interview to say she had ‘plenty’ in the tank
Further officers were seen at the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell married in 2010. Challenged over the loan, the former FM said she ‘can’t recall’ when she first discovered he had given money
Mr Yousaf this morning denied that the arrest was the reason behind Ms Sturgeon’s resignation
Why is the SNP under investigation?
The SNP is being investigated over donations of more than £600,000 it received between 2017 and 2020 to bankroll a new attempt to split the United Kingdom.
Questions have been raised over what happened to that money after Boris Johnson, as prime minister, blocked the new vote.
SNP accounts showed it had less than £100,000 in the bank at the end of 2019, plus assets of £272,000.
An investigation was launched in July 2021 after complaints were received. Detectives are looking at claims that the cash was diverted elsewhere.
Mr Murrell was the party’s chief executive from 1999 until he resigned in the middle of the leadership election to replace his wife last month.
In May 2021 MP Douglas Chapman resigned from his role as the party’s treasurer, saying he had not been given enough information to do his job. Joanna Cherry, a vocal internal critic of the party’s leadership, also resigned from her role on the national executive committee (NEC).
Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon have faced questions over an interest-free loan he made to the party.
Mr Murrell gave £107,620 to the party to ‘assist with cashflow’ on June 20, 2021, Electoral Commission documents revealed in December.
Ms Sturgeon’s decision to quit last month took Scottish politics by surprise, with the SNP ahead in the polls. Weeks earlier she had used an interview to say she had ‘plenty in the tank’.
Mr Yousaf this morning denied that the arrest was the reason behind Ms Sturgeon’s resignation.
‘Nicola’s legacy stands on its own,’ he said. ‘Nicola’s legacy, whether it’s in relation to care-experienced young people and keeping The Promise, whether it’s on tackling child poverty, there are many legacies she can stand on, and I think that’s what she’ll be judged on.’
He continued: ‘I believe her very much when she says how exhausted she was.
‘I think anybody who watched her over the course of the pandemic during those daily briefings, day after day, I think anybody could understand how exhausting that is.
‘So, no, I don’t think this is the reason why Nicola Sturgeon stood down.’
He said the party’s national executive committee had agreed to a review of governance and transparency.
Asked if the arrest would hurt the SNP in the polls or at a potential by-election, he said: ‘It certainly doesn’t do us any good.
‘People will have questions, there will be some concerns. Our party membership will have concerns too.
‘What I can commit to as party leader is that we want to be absolutely transparent.’
When she announced her resignation, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘Part of serving well is to know when the time is right to make way for someone else, and when the time comes to have the courage to do so.
‘In my head and in my heart I know that time is now, that it is right for me, my party and the country.’
Ms Sturgeon insisted her decision came from duty and was not linked to ‘short-term’ issues.
She said she had been wrestling with whether ‘carrying on’ was right for her and Scotland.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘We need Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon to urgently state what they knew and when’
According to a new Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll, conducted at the end of Humza Yousaf’s first week as leader, the SNP would be backed by 36% of Scottish voters at a general election
Mr Yousaf (pictured playing indoor tennis during a visit to a school holiday club in Ayr) has been warned he is facing what has been dubbed a ‘unionist pincer movement’ that could hammer his party at the next general election
Scotland and the SNP’s former power couple
Until the former first minister’s resignation, Nicola Sturgon and Peter Murrell were Scotland’s premier political power couple.
The Scottish National Party’s former chief executive, 58, stood down from the role during the recent leadership campaign.
Mr Murrell had been at the helm of the party since 1999, when he took over from the first holder of the role, Michael Russell.
The party official had previously worked in the Banff and Buchan constituency office of the former SNP leader, Alex Salmond.
The couple met through their work with the SNP in the late 1980s, and were first announced to be in a relationship in early 2003.
They married in 2010 in Glasgow, while Ms Sturgeon was deputy leader of the party and serving as the Scottish Government’s health secretary.
During Mr Murrell’s 20-year stint at the helm of the party, Ms Sturgeon – who is six years his junior – rose through the ranks after first being elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
She unsuccessfully stood for leader in 2004, before agreeing to a joint ticket with Mr Salmond, standing as his deputy.
The SNP won power as a minority government in 2007, often attributed to Mr Murrell’s organisational skills, and made huge electoral gains in the 2011 election.
After Mr Salmond’s resignation in 2014 following the result of the independence referendum, Ms Sturgeon was elected unopposed as successor.
Questions were raised at the time about the close working and personal relationship between husband and wife, but they insisted there was a strict division of power within the party’s governance.
In a statement this morning, Police Scotland said: ‘A 58-year-old man has today, Wednesday, 5 April 2023, been arrested as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.
‘The man is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives.
‘Officers are also carrying out searches at a number of addresses as part of the investigation.
‘A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.’
The SNP released a statement this morning, saying: ‘Clearly it would not be appropriate to comment on any live police investigation but the SNP have been co-operating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so.
‘At its meeting on Saturday, the governing body of the SNP, the NEC, agreed to a review of governance and transparency – that will be taken forward in the coming weeks.’
Mr Murrell gave an interest-free loan of £107,620 to the party to ‘assist with cashflow’ on June 20, 2021, Electoral Commission documents show.
A day earlier, the SNP’s national executive committee (NEC) held a meeting, after which treasurer Colin Beattie issued a statement reassuring members that a £600,000 ring-fenced fund would be spent on campaigning for independence.
An investigation was launched in July 2021 after complaints were received. Detectives are looking at claims that cash earmarked for campaigning for a second independence referendum had been diverted.
In January, Police Scotland confirmed it had asked the Crown Office, the Scottish public prosecution service, for ‘advice and direction’ in the case.
The SNP has since been reprimanded by the Electoral Commission for failing to properly declare the loan, having missed three deadlines required for transparency.
The arrest is another headache for Ms Sturgeon’s successor.
The SNP’s poll lead in Scotland has been cut to just five points amid a warning Mr Yousaf faces a ‘unionist pincer movement’ that could hammer his party at the next general election.
According to a new Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey, conducted at the end of his first week as First Minister, the SNP would be backed by 36 per cent of Scottish voters at a general election.
This is a fall of three percentage points from the pollster’s previous survey at the beginning of last month, while Labour has risen two points to 31 per cent.
The Scottish Tories are third on 19 per cent, a three-point fall from the beginning of last month.
The results of the poll will boost the hopes of unionist parties that they could soon end the SNP’s dominance of Scottish elections, amid reports of deal-making between anti-independence parties.
It is claimed the Scottish Tories, led by Douglas Ross, ‘won’t bust a gut’ in Westminster constituencies where Labour are the nearest challengers to the SNP.
Source: Read Full Article
