Nicola Sturgeon grilled over SNP cash probe 18 months after arrest

NICOLA Sturgeon has revealed she’s still in the dark about the long-running police probe into the SNP’s finances, insisting she is “getting on with my life as best I can”.

The former first minister claimed she knows “nothing more” of the investigation – codenamed Operation Branchform – having been arrested more than 18 months ago.

The ex-Nats chief remains under investigation by police in connection with the probe having been questioned by cops on June 11, 2023.

That followed the arrest of her husband and former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell and the then SNP treasurer Colin Beattie.

Mr Murrell was later charged in connection with alleged embezzlement from the SNP in April this year and cops handed over their report into the investigation to the Crown Office in August.

However there has been no movement around the probe since and we told in October how cops were “frustrated” with the lack of progress around the case.

Asked if she had heard anything further regarding the investigation, the former First Minister said: “I have nothing to add. Nothing to offer you on that.

“I know nothing more than I did back then and I can’t comment on it anyway.

“I am just getting on with my life as best I can at the moment.”

In June last year after her arrest she insisted “beyond doubt” she was “innocent of any wrongdoing”.

Her comments came as Christina Hendry, the niece of ex-SNP leader Alex Salmond, blasted Ms Sturgeon in a thinly-veiled reference to Mr Salmond’s belief his former colleagues were integral to an alleged political conspiracy to see him jailed.

The two pro-indy titans fell out after the late Alba Party leader was accused of sexual harassment, which he was later cleared of in a high profile trial in 2020.

Ms Hendry, who announced last week she would stand for her uncle’s party in his former seat, said: “To be quite honest, I have nothing to say to Nicola Sturgeon.

“I think we’ve all just maybe got to reflect back on ourselves and things that we’ve done.”

Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said Operation Branchform “lays bare the complexities of investigating the SNP’s finances”.

She added: “With SNP cuts continuing to hit police budgets, they could do without this investigation dragging on.”

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “On August 9 2024, we presented the findings of the investigation so far to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and we await their direction on what further action should be taken.”

2017 – March 13 – IndyRef2 campaign fundraiser launched by SNP on website ref.scot – with £1million target – as Nicola Sturgeon announces she is requesting a second referendum with a letter to then PM Theresa May. The website says: “The success of our campaign will rely on the hard work and good will of tens of thousands of ordinary people across the country.”

2017 – June – snap General Election sees the SNP lose 21 of its 56 MPs. SNP later sidelines immediate IndyRef2 bid.The ref.scot crowdfunder is wound down – showing total of £482,000

2017 – June 13 – SNP statement to The Herald newspaper says: “The funding that was raised during the period of the ref.scot crowdfunder will only be used for the specific purpose of a referendum campaign. In that regard, the money is earmarked. The money spent in the General Election campaign was taken from our general election appeal.”

2020 – October 28 – MSP and SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie – in the post since 2004 – sends an email to SNP members amid concerns about the fate of crowdfunded cash, saying he wanted to “quash rumours spreading on social media about one of our fundraising appeals”. It comes after the SNP accounts for 2019 showed the party had less than £482,000 in cash and reserves. Beattie says the “Referendum Appeal Fund” has a balance of £593,501 “and we can fully deploy those funds instantaneously”. He says the SNP “does not separate out restricted funds in annual accounts – even though his SNP accounts in 2012 had a separate referendum funds section.

2020 – November 30 – Mr Beattie ousted as Treasurer when he loses SNP internal election, with members backing MP Douglas Chapman to replace him amid a push for greater transparency

2021 – March 20 – Three members of the SNP’s finance and audit committee quit citing concerns about a lack of transparency.

2021 – March 27 – Indy activist Sean Clerkin makes a complaint to Police Scotland about the fate of the IndyRef2 cash raised in the 2017 online crowdfunder.

2021 – May 6 – Holyrood election. SNP spend £1,468,343 on the election campaign, according to returns later published

2021 – May 29 – Douglas Chapman tweets: ”Despite having a resounding mandate from members to introduce more transparency into the party’s finances, I have not received the support or financial information to carry out the fiduciary duties of National Treasurer. Regretfully I have resigned with immediate effect.”

2021 – June 3 – Mr Beattie returns as Treasurer.

2021 – June 19 – After an SNP national executive committee meeting, Mr Beattie says that at the end of 2020 “a total of £666,953 had been raised through the independence related appeals” and “£51,760 of expenditure had been applied against this income”. He says the “balance” remains “earmarked” for “independence related campaigning”.

2021 – June 20 – SNP chief executive Peter Murrell – Nicola Sturgeon’s husband – loans the SNP £107,620 which the SNP later says was to “assist with cashflow”. The loan is now declared for a year – breaking Electoral Commission rules.

2021 – July 13 – Police Scotland confirm they have begun a formal investigation into the allegations of fraud and financial irregularity. The probe is called Operation Branchform, and the SNP denies any wrongdoing and vows to cooperate.

2022 – June 30 – End of year accounts for 2021 show that the SNP had a £751,572 deficit in the calendar year 2021, with income of £4,510,460 and expenditure of £5,262,032

2022 – autumn – SNP auditors Johnston Carmichael – who signed off the 2021 accounts – resign, but this is initially kept secret by party bosses.

2023 – February 15 – Nicola Sturgeon quits just a fortnight after claiming she has plenty left in the tank. She refuses to comment when asked about the cop probe. Ms Sturgeon is asked by a reporter: “Have you been, or do you expect, to be interviewed by the police who are looking into your party’s finances?” She replies: “I’m not going to discuss an ongoing police investigation. I wouldn’t do that on any issue and I’m not going to do it now.”

2023 – February 16 – SNP set out an accelerated five-and-a-half week timetable to for the leadership race, with SNP Business Convene Kirsten Oswald saying it is “not hugely lengthy”

2023 – March 27 – Humza Yousaf, who was favoured by the Sturgeon regime, is elected as SNP leader with a final round result of 52/48 percentage split over main rival Kate Forbes.

2023 – April 5 – Mr Murrell is arrested in a dramatic raid at he and Ms Sturgeon’s home in Glasgow, quizzed by officers and later released without charge pending further inquiries

2023 – April 18 – Mr Beattie is arrested.

2023 – April 21 – Mr Murrell is pictured in public for the first time since his arrest

2023 – April 22 – SNP support plummets with expert Prof John Curtice claiming the fraud investigation and leadership contest had “taken their toll on SNP support”.

2023 – April 26 – Ms Sturgeon returns to the Scottish Parliament and describes events as “very traumatic”.

2023 – May 16 – It emerges a warrant for the search of Nicola Sturgeon’s home wasn’t signed off until the SNP leadership race had concluded and Ms Sturgeon had left office as First Minister.

2023 – May 17 – Kenny MacAskill calls for a judge-led inquiry into the Crown Office’s handling of the SNP fraud probe.

2023 – June 11 – Ms Sturgeon is arrested, later released without charge, and named as a “suspect” by police.