Police are reportedly probing claims that former first minister Nicola Sturgeon refused to open up the SNP’s finances to scrutiny.
According to a Sunday newspaper, Police Scotland has been handed emails that outline new claimed about Ms Sturgeon as part of an investigation into £600,000 of missing donations made by SNP members.
Ms Sturgeon’s husband, former party chief executive Peter Murrell, was arrested and released without charge as part of the police probe.
According to the Sunday Mail, police are now looking at allegations about Ms Sturgeon. But it is not clear what, if any, alleged criminality is being investigated.
According to the reports, it claimed she rejected a suggestion from senior SNP officials to hire a fundraising manager who would have scrutiny and oversight of money being donated to the party.
Read more: SNP finance crisis: party faces imposition of outside auditors
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie, told the newspaper: “This bombshell revelation goes to show just how central Nicola Sturgeon was to the secrecy and culture of cover up that festered within the SNP.
“Nicola Sturgeon has big questions to answer over her actions and Humza Yousaf must consider suspending her party membership and that of her husband, former Chief Executive Peter Murrell, until the investigation has been concluded.”
According to reports, the emails outlining the former first minister’s block of the appointment of a fundraising manager stem from June 2021.
The newspaper suggests that the emails outline a proposal to hire a fundraising manager, made by former treasurer of the SNP, Douglas Chapman, and backed by current treasurer Colin Beattie as part of a review into transparency and governance in 2021.
The emails reportedly set out claims the idea was rejected by Ms Sturgeon with those doing the review were ordered to remove the suggestion from their final report by SNP deputy leader and former Justice Secretary Keith Brown.
Read more: Ian Blackford slated for 'mind-boggling' claim over SNP finances
The newspaper has also revealed a video, dating back two years, of Ms Sturgeon claiming the SNP’s finances had “never been stronger”.
In a meeting of the party’s ruling NEC in March 2021 the former first minister warns her officials to be “very careful” about suggesting there was “any problems” with the accounts.
In the video, Ms Sturgeon said: “The party has never been in a stronger financial position than it is right now and that’s a reflection of our strength and our membership.
“I’m not going to get into the details...but, you know, just be very careful about suggestions that there are problems with the party’s finances, because we depend on donors to donate.
“There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party’s finances, and all of us need to be careful about not suggesting that there is.
Read more: Humza Yousaf denies SNP going bankrupt as party finances strained
“We’ve got to be careful we don’t reap what we sow, if we have leaks from this body it limits the ability for open free and frank discussion.”
Scottish Conservative chairman, Craig Hoy, said: “Nicola Sturgeon has huge questions to answer over this devastating video – which reveals everything that was wrong with the SNP under the control of her and Peter Murrell.
“For her to claim that the party’s finances were in rude health – a matter of weeks before a police investigation was launched into the missing £600,000 and her chief executive husband lent his own employers a six-figure sum to help with “cash-flow” issues – is frankly astonishing.
“Her trademark addiction to secrecy, and to image over candour, can be seen in her crude efforts to suppress any discussion from NEC members about the party’s finances because it might put off donors.”
“No wonder ‘continuity candidate’ Humza Yousaf is now desperately trying to distance himself from the Sturgeon-Murrell era. The shocking lack of transparency among the toxic clique at the top of the SNP is what has got the party in its current mess.
“If Humza Yousaf wants to show he’s determined to tackle the crisis within the SNP, he should suspend the party membership of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell.”
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