The intrigue surrounding the finances of the Scottish National Party (SNP) deepened on Tuesday when its former treasurer said he knew nothing about the purchase of a £110,000 (€124,000) motorhome that was seized by police from outside Nicola Sturgeon’s mother-in-law’s house.
Colin Beattie, a member of the Scottish parliament who quit as treasurer following his arrest this month by officers investigating the whereabouts of £660,000 in party funds, said he believes he is still a “fit and proper person” to represent the SNP on Scottish government economic committees.
The luxury Niesmann+Bischoff camper van was seized from outside the home of the mother of Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive and husband of former leader Ms Sturgeon. He was arrested a week earlier by officers investigating allegations that the £660,000, raised by activists for an independence referendum, had been diverted elsewhere.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon at a briefing in London at the Institute for Government think tank, the party’s leader in the House of Commons, Stephen Flynn, said he also was unaware of the purchase of the motorhome with purported SNP links. He said the first he knew about it was “when it was on the front page of a newspaper”.
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Ms Sturgeon is the only signatory of the SNP’s most recent accounts who has not been arrested by police investigating the apparently-missing cash. She also spoke to reporters in Edinburgh on Tuesday to deny that the financial scandal that subsequently embroiled the party was the reason why she unexpectedly quit as first minister and party leader in February.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what has unfolded over the last few weeks,” she said.
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Ms Sturgeon said she was frustrated that she is “not able to give my version of events right now” due to Scotland’s strict contempt laws that apply to commentary around a live police investigation. She confirmed she has not yet been questioned by police. Seeming emotional at times, she said she intended to stay on as a member of the Scottish parliament.
The SNP’s financial auditors quit last October, unbeknown to many of the party’s most senior figures including Humza Yousaf, who last month won the contest to replace his mentor Ms Sturgeon as party leader. Mr Yousaf won the leadership by promising continuity from the regime of Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell, who quit as SNP chief executive during the campaign after the party misled journalists over a near 40 per cent drop in its membership figures.
The SNP remains engulfed in a governance scandal unprecedented in its modern history, which party supporters fear could get even worse. In London, however, Mr Flynn insisted that it may yet have cards to play in future to further its independence agenda.
He suggested the party could seek to take advantage of its position if it ends up holding the balance of power should there be a hung parliament following the Westminster elections next year. He indicated the SNP would never do business to prop up a Tory government but it could do a deal with Labour. First, however, it must forge a path out of its current crisis.
