UK crime enforcement agencies would be on hand to assist Police Scotland with the ongoing probe into the SNP’s finances, a Labour minister has said.
Ruth Anderson, a UK Government whip in the House of Lords, told peers that “every agency would wish to assist” with Operation Branchform.
READ MORE
- Flynn blames Greens as he dissects woeful election result
- Why is Operation Branchform taking so long?
- Operation Branchform: Farrell confirms investigation ongoing
The minister was responding to a question from Scottish Labour's George Foulkes.
He told the Lords: “The minister knows that while justice is devolved, there is great concern here in the rest of the United Kingdom about the fact that Operation Branchform – which is dealing with very serious matters of fraud, of embezzlement, and of signature copying – has taken over three years now.
“It’s in no one's interest that it should drag on and on and on.
“So if Police Scotland ask us to provide specialist help from the National Crime Agency and the Serious Fraud Office, can we give them that help?”
Baroness Anderson said: “I'm of course aware of the Police Scotland investigation into the Scottish National Party.
“However, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on an investigation that is currently ongoing and operational decisions are a matter for Police Scotland.
“Of course, if they were to make such requests, I'm sure that every agency would wish to assist.”
The probe was launched in July 2021 after complaints that £660,000 raised by the party explicitly for a second independence referendum campaign was spent on other items.
Earlier this year, Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive — who is married to former first minister Nicola Sturgeon — was re-arrested and charged with the alleged embezzlement of party funds.
Two months ago, Police Scotland handed a report to the COPFS two months asking for “advice and guidance” on Ms Sturgeon and the SNP's former treasurer, Colin Beattie, both of whom were arrested, questioned and released in April last year.
The force says they are still waiting for “direction on what further action should be taken.”
In early October, criminal defence lawyer Thomas Leonard Ross KC said the Police Scotland probe into the SNP “cannot go on indefinitely”.
He told Sky News earlier: “Once somebody is charged then they have the right to a trial within a reasonable time.
“Before a person is formally charged, there might be an argument as to whether the clock is efficiently running.
“There is absolutely no doubt that it is running in relation to Mr [Peter] Murrell, so certainly the police and Crown Office have to be alive to that.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article