Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, arrested over SNP funding probe

Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell has been arrested in connection with an investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party, police have confirmed.

The former SNP chief executive is currently being questioned by detectives, and remains in custody.

Several locations are being searched as part of the investigation, and this morning the couple’s home was cordoned off by police officers.

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Police Scotland has been “probing £600,000 raised by the SNP for independence campaigning after allegations on donations fraud”, The Independent said.

Allegations emerged in 2021 that money had been taken from a “ring-fenced” fund to fight a Scottish independence referendum, leading several senior SNP figures to resign.

Money had been going into the fund since March 2017 when Nicola Sturgeon, then Scotland’s first minister, demanded a second referendum on independence from the UK. To finance the coming campaign, the SNP launched an online drive to raise funds.

However, “it is alleged the money instead was used to help with the party’s day-to-day running costs”, said The Guardian.

The investigation is now “casting a threatening political cloud over the SNP at a crucial moment for the party and its mission of ending Scotland’s three-century-old union with England”, the Financial Times said last month.

Sturgeon has previously dismissed suggestions that the referendum funds were diverted to the party, telling broadcaster STV in 2021 that no money was missing. “We don’t hold separate accounts,” Sturgeon said. “We’re under no legal requirement to do that; our accounts are managed on a cash-flow basis.”

In a short statement concerning today’s arrest, police said: “A 58-year-old man has today, Wednesday, 5 April 2023, been arrested as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.

“The man is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives. Officers are also carrying out searches at a number of addresses as part of the investigation.

“A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. As the investigation is ongoing we are unable to comment further.”