Exclusive:Former first minister calls for joint Westminster-Holyrood Peter Murrell inquiry

Peter Murrell with Nicola Sturgeon in 2019 | PA

There should be a joint inquiry between Holyrood and Westminster into Peter Murrell’s embezzlement of SNP funds, a former first minister has said.

Jack McConnell said the Commons Public Accounts Committee should hold a probe with the equivalent Scottish Parliament committee.

The ex-Scottish Labour leader - who was FM between 2001 and 2007 - said a joint committee would mean “it’s not seen to be the UK parliament poking its nose into Scottish politics.”

It comes after Nicola Sturgeon gave her first broadcast interview since her estranged husband pled guilty.

First Minister John Swinney has rejected calls for a Holyrood inquiry into how Mr Murrell was able to embezzle £400,000 from the SNP. This has led Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee to consider its own probe, which eight of the 11 members support.

But Lord McConnell said such an investigation could have problems with the perception of “neutrality”, because almost all the MPs are Scots from unionist parties.

Former first minister Jack McConnell | PA

Lord McConnell told The Scotsman: “This is about the fact that because the SNP were the third largest party at Westminster for the best part of 10 years.

“They received over that time, millions of pounds of public money to organise their party affairs.

“Obviously there are also issues about, signing off accounts, and how seriously that was all taken, and I think on all these areas there are issues to be looked at, and recommendations that must be made.

“So I think this should be a joint public inquiry.

“I think it should probably be led by the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons but it should be done equally and jointly with the equivalent committee at Holyrood.

“So it's not seen to be the UK Parliament poking its nose into Scottish politics, but the issues about political party funding, about public money, and about the way in which the transparency of political parties' use of small donations, the protection for small donors.

“These are issues that are UK-wide. They're issues for the Electoral Commission and for the UK Parliament.”

When asked why it should be the Public Accounts Committee, rather the Scottish Affairs Committee, should be part of the probe, Lord McConnell said: “These things are always difficult in terms of the balance, and nobody ever questions the neutrality of the Public Accounts Committee.

“So I think I think it is the right committee to do this, and I think, but I think they should, I don't think they should do it on their own, I think they should do it jointly with [Holyrood].

“I think that might be a first, I don't think there's ever been a joint committee of this sort.

“But what, better, what better cause to have [it for]?

“The purpose of it should be to make recommendations to stop this happening again in any party.

“It should not just be about getting to the bottom of what happened in the SNP, it should be about how do we strengthen our democracy.”

There is only one Scottish MP on the Public Accounts Committee - Labour’s Chris Kane.

Whereas the Scottish Affairs Committee is made up of almost all Scottish MPs. The SNP has just one of the 11 places, with six Labour, two Tories and two Lib Dems.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden became the first UK cabinet minister to back an inquiry yesterday morning.

Mr McFadden, who was born in Paisley and raised in Glasgow, said the SNP’s dominance had been “protected by a claim to virtue” which was denied to others.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I think there should. And I think the reason there should is because there are two things going on here.

“You have a marriage, and that was discussed a lot in the interview, but you also have the role of a political leader.

“And the SNP have been the dominant force in Scottish politics for 20 years, and that dominance has extended not just to politics but to society and culture, and it has been protected by a claim to virtue, which is often denied to those elsewhere in the UK, particularly to England.

“And I think that this culture and this claim to virtue has surrounded itself with control and secrecy, and that means that when these scandals hit – and the SNP is not the only party to be hit by a scandal, I should make that clear – the only way through it is full transparency.”

Mr McFadden added that he hoped the Scottish Parliament would “step up to the plate and show that it can do this”.

Lord McConnell was speaking ahead of the Scotland 2050 conference which takes place at the Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh on Tuesday. Free tickets are available at www.scotland-2050.co.uk.