{"id":605358,"date":"2026-05-26T19:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/605358\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T19:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:57:11","slug":"snp-accused-of-embezzling-voters-over-peter-murrells-theft-of-party-funds-scottish-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/605358\/","title":{"rendered":"SNP accused of \u2018embezzling\u2019 voters over Peter Murrell\u2019s theft of party funds | Scottish politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Scottish National party was accused of \u201cembezzling\u201d voters after opposition leaders highlighted the crisis over Peter Murrell\u2019s misuse of \u00a3400,000 from party funds.<\/p>\n

The scandal over Murrell\u2019s guilty plea<\/a> on Monday to embezzling \u00a3400,310.65 while he was the SNP\u2019s chief executive overshadowed a Holyrood motion<\/a> tabled by John Swinney to call for a second independence referendum.<\/p>\n

Fulfilling a promise made during the Holyrood election campaign, the first minister used the first full day of parliamentary business on Tuesday to stage a symbolic vote calling for the power to stage a fresh referendum.<\/p>\n

Swinney offered no new legal or constitutional arguments that might force the UK government to agree to do so. Instead he challenged pro-UK parties to agree Scotland<\/a> had a right to decide its own future.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I seek confirmation from this parliament that this is a voluntary union and that the people of Scotland have the right to decide whether we remain in that union,\u201d he told MSPs. \u201cThat is a principle that should be accepted by all those in this chamber who believe in independence but also all those who believe in the union. Because what is at stake are the democratic wishes of the people of Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said Swinney\u2019s attempt to revisit this issue immediately after the election at a time of significant global insecurity and a cost of living crisis was evidence of the SNP\u2019s selfishness.<\/p>\n

In a reference to Swinney\u2019s acceptance on Monday that Murrell had embezzled SNP funds donated by the party\u2019s members, Sarwar said Murrell\u2019s crimes provided voters with \u201creally stark\u201d evidence the SNP put its own ambitions and interests first.<\/p>\n

Swinney should instead focus on building the new homes needed, encouraging economic growth and supporting struggling families on day one, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who are their most vociferous supporters asked to put their hard-earned cash into a movement that they believed in,\u201d Sarwar said. \u201cWhat did the people that were charged with the responsibility do? They robbed them of that opportunity. They embezzled them of that opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the reality is that is countless opportunities that have been embezzled by this SNP government for 20 years from people across this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservative leader, said the timing of Swinney\u2019s debate was \u201ccomical\u201d given the political agenda was dominated by Murrell\u2019s embezzlement.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Conservative leader, Russell Findlay during the debate on independence for Scotland. Photograph: Jane Barlow\/PA<\/p>\n

He said Swinney himself had helped quash \u201cvalid concerns\u201d within the SNP about the party\u2019s finances before the police investigation was launched, echoing warnings from Nicola Sturgeon to party members to \u201cstay quiet\u201d.<\/p>\n

When she was interviewed as a suspect by police, Sturgeon, who was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing, had repeatedly said \u201cno comment\u201d to detectives\u2019 questions, he said.<\/p>\n

Those were \u201cthe tactics of organised crime\u201d, Findlay said. \u201cToday of all days, John Swinney<\/a> reckons the SNP can be trusted to take full control of an independent Scotland and our nation\u2019s finances. The same John Swinney who didn\u2019t have a clue that his childhood friend, who he appointed SNP chief executive, was plundering their own party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swinney\u2019s efforts to shift attention on to Scotland\u2019s constitutional options was backed by Ross Greer, the Scottish Green party\u2019s co-leader, who accused Holyrood\u2019s pro-UK parties of deploying \u201cincreasingly desperate mental gymnastics\u201d when they tried to deny that the SNP\u2019s 58 seats and the Greens\u2019 15 seats had produced Holyrood\u2019s \u201cbiggest ever\u201d pro-independence majority.<\/p>\n

The SNP\u2019s election manifesto had stated only an SNP majority would deliver that mandate, but Swinney\u2019s motion on Tuesday insisted the combined votes of both parties were a legitimate mandate.<\/p>\n

Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tories\u2019 finance spokesperson, challenged Greer\u2019s stance by arguing that the SNP and the Greens won only 41% of Scotland\u2019s regional votes on 7 May, while pro-UK parties gained 59%.<\/p>\n

Greer dismissed that line. \u201cIt\u2019s normal in a democracy that a parliamentary majority can pursue the issues that it\u2019s won a mandate from the voters on,\u201d he said. \u201cDemocracy is not a one-off event. We\u2019ve got to wonder why people are so angry and cynical. It\u2019s because of these anti-democratic games that are being played.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Scottish National party was accused of \u201cembezzling\u201d voters after opposition leaders highlighted the crisis over Peter Murrell\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-605358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}