SNP finances row: Nicola Sturgeon insists police investigation played no role in her decision to resign

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted the ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances played no role in her decision to resign and said she would continue as an MSP, as she described the past few weeks as “very traumatic”.

The former first minister was visibly emotional as she told journalists she could not have anticipated recent events in her “worst nightmares”.

In her first appearance at Holyrood since the arrest of her husband Peter Murrell, Ms Sturgeon said she had not been questioned by police, but refused to discuss the investigation. Mr Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, was released without charge following 11 hours of questioning earlier this month.

The party’s treasurer Colin Beattie was arrested last week in the same police probe then also released without charge, pending further investigation.

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon talking to media as she returns to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Ms Sturgeon said: "One of the frustrating things just now, and I'm not complaining about this, I understand the process that is underway, but one of the frustrating aspects of that is that I'm not able to give my version of what is going on just now. Hopefully the time will come when I can do that, so I appreciate the concern, I appreciate the frustration, but that is the nature of the process that is underway right now.”

Ms Sturgeon was asked if she owed her successor, Humza Yousaf, an apology given the controversies engulfing the SNP. She said: “I think Humza is doing, in very, very difficult circumstances, an outstanding job. I have become ever more convinced, and I was already convinced of this, that he is going to be a very fine First Minister.

"I understand the view that some people might have that I knew all of this was about to unfold and that’s why I walked away. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks. I believe the SNP, notwithstanding the real difficulties that surround the party just now, is in good shape, and I think Humza will take it to an even better place.”

She said the events of the past few weeks had been “in some respects very traumatic”. Asked if the police investigation played a role in her decision to quit as First Minister, Ms Sturgeon said: “No, it didn’t. The police investigation was underway, it was known about, so there was no secret in that. The reasons I stepped down as First Minister were the reasons I set out in Bute House in the middle of February.

"Of course I understand that people are now looking back on that and saying ‘well, was there something more to it?’ There wasn’t. If you are saying to me, back then or at any time until it happened, I could have anticipated what happened almost three weeks ago, the answer is no – I didn’t and couldn’t have done.”

Asked if she was surprised when the police arrived on her doorstep, she said: “I think you can probably take the answer to that as yes.” Ms Sturgeon indicated she would stay on as the MSP for Glasgow Southside, insisting she would “get on with representing my constituents”.

It came as Mr Beattie was forced to clarify comments he made to journalists about a £100,000 motorhome purchased by the SNP. Mr Beattie, who stepped down as treasurer following his arrest but remains an SNP MSP, initially told journalists he did not know about the campervan.

As part of their investigation, police have seized a Niesmann + Bischoff campervan. The vehicle was reportedly bought by the SNP as a campaign “battle bus” ahead of the 2021 Holyrood election, but was apparently never used.

Mr Beattie was the SNP’s national treasurer between 2004 and 2020, losing the position to MP Douglas Chapman. However, Mr Chapman quit the post in 2021, claiming he was not being given the required information to carry out the job, and Mr Beattie took on the role again.

Asked if he knew about the campervan purchase and if he signed it off, Mr Beattie replied: “No, I didn’t know about it.” However, he later released a statement clarifying this, saying: “This afternoon I was asked if I knew about the motorhome purchase to which I answered no. Given some of the coverage of this answer, I believe it is important to clarify that I was unaware of the transaction at the time of purchase. I became aware of the transaction via the 2021 annual accounts.”

Ms Sturgeon refused to comment on the campervan, saying she would not comment on issues related to the ongoing police investigation.

Mr Beattie also denied the SNP is in financial difficulty, insisting: “The SNP is in the black.” Asked if the party is “not going bust”, Mr Beattie said: “We’re a going concern, definitely.”

He went on to say the SNP’s difficulty in finding auditors is partly due to the “market situation”.

Mr Beattie made no comment when asked if he should be suspended from the SNP following his arrest, but said he had “no plans at the moment” to resign from Holyrood’s economy and fair work committee, adding he believed he was a “fit and proper person” to serve on it.

The MSP was also asked if his arrest was the worst thing that has ever happened to him. He replied: “No, I was in Beirut actually when I was under artillery fire. That was worse.”

Later on Tuesday, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn was asked about the motorhome as he spoke at an Institute for Government event in London. He said he only became aware of the purchase “when it was printed on the front of a newspaper”.

The police investigation into the SNP’s funding and finances was launched in 2021 after complaints were made about the alleged misuse of £600,000 of donations earmarked for another independence referendum campaign.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Nicola Sturgeon might have taken some questions, but she has given no answers.” She added: “Her attempt to downplay the extraordinary chaos we’re seeing in the SNP is an insult to the public’s intelligence. That Nicola Sturgeon is proud of a leadership that failed even by its own metrics and ended in the grotesque spectacle of a police raid on her home shows that she has completely lost touch.

“The same old secrecy and spin from Nicola Sturgeon won’t cut it anymore – we need real answers about the scandal and sleaze engulfing the SNP.”

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “This brief appearance was little more than a PR exercise for Nicola Sturgeon, given that she could not, or would not, answer any of the key questions the public demand answers to.

“The former first minister is adamant that she had no prior knowledge of how this scandal might unfold and that it played no part in her resignation. But the police have been investigating the missing £600,000 for almost two years and, sooner or later, senior figures in the SNP were always going to be asked for an explanation.

“There have been plenty of absurd claims made by SNP politicians as civil war and scandal has taken hold, but few can match Nicola Sturgeon’s insistence that Humza Yousaf is doing an ‘outstanding’ job and her party is in ‘good shape’."