{"id":656675,"date":"2026-06-25T01:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T01:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/656675\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T01:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T01:29:12","slug":"nicola-sturgeon-snp-chiefs-bullied-us-after-raising-peter-murrell-snp-cash-fears-say-whistleblowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/656675\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicola Sturgeon & SNP chiefs ‘BULLIED’ us after raising Peter Murrell SNP cash fears, say whistleblowers"},"content":{"rendered":"

TWO whistleblowers have said they were bullied by Nicola Sturgeon and SNP chiefs after sounding the alarm on her crooked hubby and the party\u2019s fraud-hit finances<\/p>\n

Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie quit as SNP <\/a>finance watchdogs in 2021 after being obstructed by \u00a3400,000 embezzler boss Peter Murrell<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Politics newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The SNP whistleblowers claim Nicola Sturgeon bullied them when they tried to sound the alarm<\/p>\n

Peter Murrell, who was jailed this week for more than five years over his \u00a3400k embezzlement Credit: PA<\/p>\n

SNP Whistleblower Allison Graham said the \u201ctoxic\u201d meeting was like \u201cbeing bullied\u201d. Credit: Andrew Barr<\/p>\n

SNP whistleblower Cynthia Guthrie quit as Nats finance watchdog along with Ms Graham<\/p>\n

Speaking about a \u201ctoxic\u201d meeting where Ms Sturgeon<\/a> warned her not to question SNP finances, Ms Graham said: \u201cIt was like being bullied in the playground.\u201c<\/p>\n

The pair blamed Ms Sturgeon and John Swinney<\/a> for for \u201cenabling\u201d Peter Murrell\u2019s \u00a3400,000 SNP fraud.<\/a><\/p>\n

The former party finance officials say the pair rubbished their concerns about discrepancies with the books under Ms Sturgeon\u2019s thieving husband.<\/p>\n

In a bombshell interview with The Scottish Sun<\/a>, they also revealed shock details of a private meeting during which Ms Graham says she was belittled and \u201cbullied\u201d by Ms Sturgeon and her Nats\u2019 cronies.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

THROW BOOK AT NIC<\/p>\n

Sturgeon\u2019s \u2018last shred of credibility DESTROYED\u2019 by new Branchform photos<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

PLUNDER PICS<\/p>\n

Images of Peter Murrell’s illicit haul released by prosecutors<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

It came after the two women had warned that Murrell \u2014 caged for more than five years on Tuesday <\/a>\u2014 was blocking their attempts to get basic access to account details. And far from the \u201chuge amount of scrutiny of party finances\u201d claimed by Mr Swinney, they said Murrell had effectively been handed \u201ca blank cheque\u201d to embezzle.<\/p>\n

Ms Guthrie said both the First Minister and Ms Sturgeon were \u201cculpable\u201d as they misled SNP members and the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIntentionally or not intentionally, it\u2019s not for me to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they were prepared to stand up and say whatever, authoritatively, to the public.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMost read in The Scottish Sun\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tSturgeon, Swinney & SNP respond\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

JOHN Swinney insisted he\u2019d done nothing wrong amid the Peter Murrell scandal \u2013 as Nicola Sturgeon stayed silent on the latest revelations.<\/p>\n

The First Minister has claimed the SNP were hoodwinked by their ex SNP chief exec, and rejected whistleblower claims that his statements at the time enabled the criminality.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Sun asked the SNP to respond on behalf of Mr Swinney and the national executive committee members to Ms Graham and Ms Guthrie\u2019s anger.<\/p>\n

An SNP spokesperson said: \u201cJohn Swinney did not hold any position within the party, and was not a member of the party\u2019s NEC, during the time in question.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen asked about these issues, Mr Swinney was simply setting out the expectations any party member would have about the financial scrutiny that is provided for under the SNP rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the leadership of John Swinney, the party has undergone significant reform of its governance procedures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs business convener, Kirsten Oswald was committed to transparency and she ensured that updates from NEC meetings were displayed on the party website following meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe criminal wrongdoing of Peter Murrell was uncovered by a complex and extensive police investigation years after the events in question. The SNP was the victim of that wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

We also put the claims to Ms Sturgeon\u2019s lawyer, Aamer Anwar. He said: \u201cMy client will not be commenting.\u201d But he stressed that Ms Sturgeon denied enabling any criminality.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tFind out what’s really going on\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRegister now for our free weekly politics newsletter for an insightful and irreverent look at the (sometimes excruciating) world of Scottish Politics.\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Every Thursday our hotshot politics team goes behind the headlines to bring you a rundown of key events \u2013 plus insights and gossip from the corridors of power, including a \u2018Plonker\u2019 and \u2018Star\u2019 of the Week.<\/p>\n

Sign up\u00a0<\/a>now and make sure you don\u2019t miss a beat. The politicians would hate that.<\/p>\n

SIGN UP FOR FREE NOW<\/a><\/p>\n

Business analyst Ms Graham and HR executive Ms Guthrie\u00a0held unpaid roles on the SNP\u2019s finance and audit committee in 2021 \u2014 and were cited to be Crown witnesses had Murrell not pled guilty, avoiding a trial.<\/p>\n

The women\u00a0 told how they were staggered to see Ms Sturgeon and Mr Swinney make public\u00a0 statements dismissing issues as cops began their criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

Both made repeated public statements in 2021 that money had not gone missing from the SNP.<\/p>\n

It came amid claims the party had defrauded donors by spending \u00a3482,000 of crowdfunded cash that had been \u201cring fenced\u201d in 2017 for a future independence referendum.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Police later\u00a0 uncovered Murrell\u2019s myriad of fraudulent purchases \u2014 from a \u00a3124,550 motorhome to three toilet brushes \u2014 using SNP money over a 12-year period.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Graham and Ms Guthrie said they and former Edinburgh Lord Provost Frank Ross were obstructed by Murrell and other party HQ chiefs when they tried to scrutinise SNP income and expenditure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They told how they were given only snippets of information on screen in meetings \u2014 with Mr Ross clocking at one point\u00a0 the SNP\u2019s 2020 budget \u201cwas out by \u00a31.51million\u201d.<\/p>\n

They flagged Murrell\u2019s odd behaviour in online meetings, including an occasion when he\u00a0 was asked about the indy donations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The statement read out by whistleblower Allison Graham which sparked attack from Nicola Sturgeon and others<\/p>\n

Nicola Sturgeon with Peter Murrell Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

Ms Guthrie said: \u201cHe looked to the mid-distance and pointed and he said, \u2018I can see it!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was kind of throwing his arms up, as if you could see it.\u201d Ms Graham and Ms Guthrie told of \u201cfilibustering\u201d, \u201cdistraction\u201d and \u201csleight of hand\u201d in the meetings.<\/p>\n

They added that other committee members did not appear interested in scrutiny.\u00a0 Ms Graham said: \u201cThey were asking us to sign a blank cheque because Peter Murrell told us everything was fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018We cannot do that in good faith for ourselves, reputationally, and from a liability point of view, but also for the members\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two women and Mr Ross quit the committee after just two months due to being \u201cblocked\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a resignation statement during a party national executive committee Zoom video meeting on March 20, 2021, Ms Graham warned of \u201cobvious procrastination\u201d by Murrell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She highlighted a failure to give basic information and said they had been given contradictory information and had \u201cno way\u201d of providing \u201cscrutiny and governance\u201d.<\/p>\n

The response from a string of\u00a0 NEC members \u2014 including Ms Sturgeon \u2014 was to round on her, as shown by text chat screengrabs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tSir Keir call for SNP inquiry\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

SIR Keir Starmer said the SNP must allow a probe into how Murrell\u2019s crimes went undetected for 12 years.<\/p>\n

The PM made the call in response to\u00a0 Scots Tory MP John Lamont asked for \u00a0 \u00a0 a UK inquiry into the devolved matter because the law allows for one in the \u201cpublic interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir said at PMQs: \u201cThe SNP calls for transparency and accountability for everybody else.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when they have giant questions to answer it\u2019s nothing to see here, don\u2019t want to know, don\u2019t want to have an inquiry Totally wrong approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Westminster\u2019s Scottish Affairs Committee has support for a probe there.<\/p>\n

But their preference is for a Holyrood one, which was voted down by the SNP and Greens.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tFury over ‘awkward squad’\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

ALLISON Graham and Cynthia Guthrie are furious about being branded members of an \u201cawkward squad\u201d in the SNP ranks.<\/p>\n

The pair ended up quitting the Nats and joining Alex Salmond\u2019s Alba party after resigning from their financial watchdog roles in 2021.<\/p>\n

Ms Graham said: \u201cAsking questions isn\u2019t \u2018awkward\u2019 \u2014 they chose to label us rather than listen to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Ms Guthrie added: \u201cTo call us the \u2018awkward squad\u2019, I take offence to that, I\u2019m sorry. I think that\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair said if they had been motivated by politics they could have spoken up at any point in the past five years.<\/p>\n

Ms Graham said: \u201cWe didn\u2019t because it was not the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Graham said\u00a0 Ian Cockburn, a Highland councillor at the time, launched a \u201cverbal attack\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0She said: \u201cIt made me feel like I was a daft wee lassie.\u201d But Ms Sturgeon replied in the online chat: \u201cWell said, Ian.\u201d<\/p>\n

SNP Glasgow councillor Graham Campbell told Ms Graham in the chat: \u201cYou should not have been allowed to read that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Heather Anderson, who is now an SNP MSP, suggested a \u201cnew hashtag I\u2019mwithIan\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ms Graham said: \u201cIt was overwhelming. It was just\u00a0 like a torrent. I\u2019m not a shy, retiring individual but this was like being bullied in the playground. It felt as if you were\u00a0 being kicked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ms Sturgeon then infamously told the meeting: \u201cI\u2019m not going to get into the details but, you know, just be very careful about suggestions that there are problems with the party\u2019s finances, because we depend on donors to donate. There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party\u2019s finances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Graham said: \u201cNicola came in very clearly to shut it down. She was using her positional authority to demean what I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like, \u2018I\u2019m the First Minister, I know better\u2019.\u201d Ms Graham added: \u201cNobody backed me up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very lonely. The police asked me, \u2018Why do you think it was?\u2019 I said, \u2018Well, it was a very toxic environment. I was the head on the stick\u2019. It\u2019s bullying at the end of the day.\u201d Asked if she was bullied by Ms Sturgeon, she replied: \u201cBullied by them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whistleblowers are angry the SNP\u2019s ex-business convener Kirsten Oswald \u2014 now an MSP and victims\u2019 minister \u2014 failed to properly record their resignation statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Guthrie said: \u201cWhy did she fail to include the statement in the meeting minutes? Because that would have been seen by the external auditors and raised a red flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Graham and Ms Guthrie say an independent inquiry into SNP financial governance is essential.<\/p>\n

They insist that when concerns were raised, Ms Sturgeon should have ordered a probe by a forensic accountant and this would have exposed Murrell\u2019s fraud.<\/p>\n

Instead, Ms Sturgeon and her then Deputy First Minister, Mr Swinney, defended the governance of party finances. In an STV interview in June 2021, Ms Sturgeon said: \u201cMoney hasn\u2019t gone missing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In July that year, after Police Scotland launched Operation Branchform, Mr Swinney told the BBC accounts were audited and\u00a0 \u201call of these functions of good governance and statute are followed\u201d,<\/p>\n

Since Murrell\u2019s conviction, he has claimed the \u201csystems were robust but they were circumvented\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, Ms Graham and Ms Guthrie said he and Ms Sturgeon\u00a0 had fuelled criminality by claiming there was nothing amiss.<\/p>\n

Ms Guthrie said: \u201cThey were enablers.\u201d Ms Graham added: \u201cShe failed in her duty as party leader and there\u2019s zero accountability and there\u2019s zero humility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had the power to do something about it and they chose not to. And that for me is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TWO whistleblowers have said they were bullied by Nicola Sturgeon and SNP chiefs after sounding the alarm on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,24716,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-656675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-scottish-national-party","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656675","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=656675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}