S Poddar
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is no longer being investigated in the current Police Scotland inquiry into the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) finances. The news came as her husband, Peter Murrell, appeared in court in Edinburgh on embezzlement charges.
Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP, faced a private hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court when he made no plea. He was bailed after the hearing. Police also confirmed that former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie was no longer under investigation in the case.
Sturgeon and Murrell recently revealed that they had separated and were in the process of formally ending their marriage. Murrell was initially arrested in April last year and later released without charge. However, he has since been formally charged and has reportedly resigned from the SNP. Beattie, who represents Midlothian North and Musselburgh in the Scottish Parliament, was arrested in April 2023 but released without charge.
Sturgeon was also arrested in June 2023 as part of the investigation but was released without charge on the same day. Police Scotland has now confirmed that investigations into both Sturgeon and Beattie have finished, that neither of them has been charged, and that they are no longer being investigated.
Sturgeon’s surprise resignation as SNP leader and first minister in February 2023, following an eight-year tenure, fueled speculation over its link to the financial investigation. She, however, reiterated that the police inquiry did not affect her decision to resign.
Murrell’s own resignation as long-standing SNP chief executive followed a month later amid controversy over false claims to the press about membership numbers within the party. Shortly thereafter, in April 2023, police officers searching for evidence of how £660,000 in donations received by the SNP from independence supporters was administered raided their home. The operation included the Edinburgh headquarters of the party, and authorities also confiscated a luxury motorhome from Murrell’s mother’s driveway in Fife.
The inquiry, Operation Branchform, has now been ongoing for almost four years. In September last year, it was revealed that police had provided prosecutors with evidence in the shape of an “advice and guidance report,” requesting formal guidance on what to do next.
Sturgeon recently confirmed that she will be standing down as an MSP at the forthcoming Holyrood election. However, there are reports that Beattie plans to stand for re-election, although he must win a selection battle to be the SNP’s candidate in his constituency.
The extended inquiry has had serious political implications. A case of such extent, albeit not rare in law enforcement, has had a colossal influence on Scotland’s politics. It has overshadowed the party’s leadership for almost four years, casting a shadow over the figures at the center of the investigation and impacting the SNP’s reputation as Scotland’s governing party.
The police investigation was marked by dramatic scenes, with officers installing a blue forensic tent in front of the house Sturgeon and Murrell used to share. Back in Edinburgh, police combed the headquarters of the SNP, taking boxes of evidence off the premises. The events contributed to the SNP’s high losses in last year’s UK general election, as senior party figures felt they paid a high political price for the scandal.
Sturgeon, who has always maintained she did nothing wrong, had earlier referred to her experience of the investigation as “traumatic.” Nevertheless, sources indicate that she is not likely to pursue redress and will rather concentrate on getting on with her life.
