NICOLA Sturgeon, her husband and a second MSP would no longer be welcome in the SNP if they were charged by the police, according to the party’s Westminster leader.
Stephen Flynn indicated a criminal charge alone would be grounds to eject someone from the party, rather than waiting for a court verdict.
He told BBC Radio Scotland: “In terms of my views at the moment, if someone is charged by the police for wrongdoing, then they shouldn’t be in the Scottish National Party.
“I am not aware of anyone being charged by the police in relation to any matter who is in the Scottish National Party.
“If that changes, then I’m sure people will act accordingly.”
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The Aberdeen South MP was speaking the day after Ms Sturgeon gave her first public press conference since being arrested and released without charge on Sunday June 11th.
The former first minister insisted she had “done nothing wrong” and intended to return to Holyrood later this week to represent her Glasgow Southside constituency.
She was arrested and questioned for seven hours by detectives investigating whether £660,000 raised by the SNP specifically for Indyref2 was spent on other things.
Ms Sturgeon’s husband, the former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, and MSP Colin Beattie, the former SNP treasurer, were also arrested, questioned and released without charge as part of Operation Branchform on April 5 and April 18 respectively.
Opposition parties have demanded Humza Yousaf suspend Ms Sturgeon, but the first minister has refused, calling his predecessors the most impressive politician in Europe.
The SNP’s MSPs also sent Ms Sturgeon flowers last week because of “alll she has been through” with her arrest as a suspect.
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It has led to claims of preferential treatment for Ms Sturgeon, as other SNP parliamentarians have been suspended as a precaution without any police involvement.
Asked about others being suspended over alleged misconduct but not Ms Sturgeon, Mr Flynn said: “Circumstances in the past are not something I can answer for. I wasn’t part of that decision makiing process.”
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