SNP finances row: Will the SNP ever wake up from its 'worst nightmare'?

Setting foot in the Scottish Parliament for the first time since the arrest of her husband, Nicola Sturgeon said she could not have anticipated recent events in her “worst nightmares”.

The former first minister’s voice cracked with emotion as she described the impact of the past few weeks, which had been “in some respects very traumatic”.

The arrest of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, who was later released without charge, sent shockwaves through Scottish politics and immediately plunged her party into its biggest crisis in decades. Few will be able to forget the dramatic footage of police searching the home the couple share on the outskirts of Glasgow.

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Ms Sturgeon said the ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances had nothing to do with her decision to resign in mid February. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she told journalists. “I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks.”

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

It was an extraordinary moment in a day that turned out to be full of them.

Earlier on Tuesday, Colin Beattie, the former SNP treasurer who was arrested last week and then also released without charge, faced the cameras on his own return to Holyrood. He initially told reporters he was not aware of the purchase by the party of a £100,000 motorhome that has now been seized by the police, but was forced to clarify his comments just hours later.

“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,” he said. “I became aware of the transaction via the 2021 annual accounts.”

Meanwhile, in London, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn was at loggerheads with his predecessor, Ian Blackford, over whether assurances had been given about new auditors being put in place. It is the sort of public spat that would have been unthinkable a few months ago.

The SNP has been without auditors since September last year. If it doesn’t find a replacement soon, the SNP group at Westminster could miss out on £1.2 million of Short money – the financial assistance given to opposition parties in the House of Commons.

It all adds up to a gigantic mess for a party once renowned for its discipline and unity. Every day seems to bring more bad news. Opposition parties can barely conceal their glee. “If this farce wasn’t so serious, it would be comical,” said Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy. The SNP is in “meltdown”, insisted Labour.

In Holyrood, there is a feverish atmosphere. Anything seems possible.

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Humza Yousaf, the new First Minister, desperately needs to get on the front foot and push forward with his own agenda. But how can he, when his party is engulfed in scandal?

Ms Sturgeon will not be alone in wondering when this nightmare will come to an end. Perhaps, at this very moment, Mr Yousaf is pinching himself, hoping to wake up soon.

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