5 APRIL 2023 | NEWS
Peter Murrell, the husband of the recently-departed First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has been arrested today in connection with a police enquiry into financial misconduct. It is understood at the time of publication that he remains in police custody.
The allegations in question relate to the financial affairs of the Scottish National Party (SNP), of which Ms Sturgeon had been leader for a little over 8 years until she left office on 28 March this year.
Until his own resignation last month, Mr Murrell – who has been married to Ms Sturgeon since 2010 – had been the SNP’s Chief Executive since 1999. The official reason given for his resignation was the issuing of misleading statements regarding a fall in the party’s membership.
It is understood that the police raided both the Murrell/Sturgeon residence in Glasgow and the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh, and that inspections at several other addresses have also been ongoing. Eye-witness reports confirm that officers were seen bringing items from the house into a tent erected on its driveway, understood to be including a laptop, and that many marked police vehicles were present at both addresses.
The new First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP, Humza Youssaf, said this had been “a difficult day” for the party, but while refusing to comment on an active police investigation, added that the party would co-operate fully with the police in the matter.
It is also understood that the party is planning a review into governance and transparency in light of the developments.
The investigation dates back to allegations originally made several years ago as to how the party was being funded. The Scottish Police launched a formal investigation into the matter in July 2021 after it was alleged by seven people that certain donations to the party, which had been intended for use in funding a new campaign for Scottish independence, had in fact been used differently.
The party is thought to have raised over £600,000 in funding drive for an independence campaign, which has not in fact since emerged. Given that its accounts showed a bank balance of a little under £97,000 by the end of 2019, it was later revealed that Mr Murrell had loaned the party £100,000 to settle a “cash flow issue” in June 2021, following the last Holyrood elections earlier in the year. The party had repaid approximately half of this by October of that year.
But Ms Sturgeon denied the claims as First Minister at the time, claiming that “every penny” of the money raised by the party through crowd-funding would be used in its drive for a renewed campaign for independence.
While refusing to comment on an ongoing police investigation, an SNP spokesperson said: “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.”
Responding for Scottish Labour, its leader Anas Sarwar called the situation “extremely serious”, adding that: “There are huge questions, I think, to answer for both [current First Minister] Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon about what they knew and when.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, said: “This is clearly a very serious case and it’s absolutely crucial now that those at the top of the SNP, including Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon, co-operate fully with this ongoing police investigation.”
Ms Sturgeon’s predecessor as leader of the SNP and First Minister, Alex Salmond, also weighed in on the issue, commenting that: “I led the SNP for a long time. I’m very sad about what’s happening to it and indeed about what it has become.”
Following an arrest, there is normally a 12-hour period during which the Scottish Police can question a suspect before deciding whether or not to charge them with an offence. In any event, he is likely to be released from custody at this juncture, but if it is decided that there is sufficient evidence against him, he is likely to be formally charged.
Next, they will send a report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) – Scotland’s prosecution service – which will then decide upon how to proceed with the matter.
