by Angus Cochrane
Senior political journalist, BBC Scotland
More than £660,000 raised by the SNP for an independence referendum campaign has been used on the party’s “ongoing activity”, First Minister John Swinney has confirmed.
Concerns about the fund sparked a police investigation into SNP finances, which led to former chief executive Peter Murrell admitting last week that he embezzled more than £400,000 from the party.
The independence cash has not been highlighted as part of the prosecution’s case against Murrell, but questions remain about how it has been used.
Swinney insisted that the money was going towards the SNP’s “independence objectives”.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard on Tuesday how Murrell used charge cards, bank transfers and fake invoices to fund purchases including a motorhome, two cars, a robotic lawnmower, jewellery and cosmetics between 2010 and 2022.
He is due to be sentenced on 23 June.
Concerns about SNP finances initially centred on £667,000 of donations for a second independence referendum campaign.
The cash was collected in two SNP online fundraisers after Nicola Sturgeon announced plans for a second referendum in March 2017.
The party insisted that the funds were “ring-fenced” for a referendum campaign, while Sturgeon said “every penny” would be used for that purpose.
However, by 2021, Sturgeon was denying claims that the money had “gone missing”.
Asked how the fund has been used, Swinney told Bauer: “That money is part of the resources that are available to the SNP to support its independence objectives, and the SNP is the party of independence, and that’s what we campaign for.”
Asked if all of the money had been spent, he replied: “I’m saying it’s part of the ongoing activities of the Scottish National Party.
“We’re the party that campaigns for independence. We just fought an election campaign in which we had a very, very strong anchoring of our campaign for independence.
“If that’s not the use of the resources, then I’m not sure I understand what the resources are for.”
The first minister added that it was important that SNP resources “are used for the purposes for which they are intended”.
In October 2020, Wings Over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell complained that the independence fund had “vanished” into the “party machine”.
He noted that in the previous year’s accounts, the SNP had £97,000 in the bank and net assets of £272,000.
That led to speculation that the fund contributed to general party expenses, such as the 2017 general election.
In 2021, then SNP treasurer Colin Beattie said that while some of the money had not been spent directly on a referendum campaign, “amounts equivalent to the sums raised will be spent for the intended purpose”.
Questions about the fund prompted complaints to Police Scotland, which formally launched an investigation into SNP finances in July 2021.
That probe ultimately exposed Murrell’s embezzlement of £400,000.
However, the £667,000 fund has not been highlighted in court documents.
SNP ‘taking all action necessary’
Earlier, Swinney declined to apologise to whistleblowers who raised concerns about finances while Murrell was embezzling funds.
Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry – who resigned from the SNP’s ruling body in June 2021 due to concerns about transparency – has claimed that those who asked questions about finances were “demonised” by the party leadership.
Asked if he would apologise, the first minister told BBC Scotland News that the SNP was “taking all the action that is necessary to address the implications of this case”.
Pressed on whether the scandal could have been uncovered sooner, Swinney insisted that Murrell’s crimes – which spanned from 2010 until 2022 – were “well underway” by the time concerns about transparency were raised.
“The systems were circumvented long before anybody realised there were any possible issues with the SNP’s finances,” the SNP leader said.
He insisted that the party now had “very strong” financial controls in place.
Swinney said the SNP was open to reimbursing members who had lost out as a result of Murrell’s crimes, and that it had already done so in some cases.
Swinney and former first minister Sturgeon have both denied shutting down concerns about SNP finances.
Between March and May 2021, three members of the SNP’s finance committee and treasurer Douglas Chapman resigned after being refused access to the financial information. Cherry quit the following month.
At the time, Swinney, then deputy first minister to Nicola Sturgeon, told the BBC that there was a “huge amount of scrutiny of party finances”.
A leaked video from a March 2021 meeting of the SNP’s ruling body showed Sturgeon telling members that the party “had never been in a stronger financial position”.
She also warned of the impact on future donations if anyone went public with their concerns.
The SNP’s long-standing auditors also quit in September 2023 – six months before Murrell was first arrested – following a review of their clients.
Swinney said last week he was “not conscious” of having shut down questions about party finances.
He has also repeatedly rejected calls for an independent inquiry – arguing that a probe could not provide more answers than a thorough police investigation.
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie and Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay.
Scottish Labour deputy leader nd Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie said: “SNP members and supporters donated their hard-earned money believing it would be used for a future referendum campaign.”
She added: “People will rightly ask whether they were misled. They will rightly ask why the SNP continues to resist scrutiny.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay accused Swinney and Sturgeon of having “shut down scrutiny”.
He described Swinney’s comments about the independence fund as “damning” and said they “surely destroy any residual trust” in the SNP.
Scottish Labour responded to this story last night, writes Bill Heaney.
John Swinney has effectively admitted that SNP members and supporters have been defrauded by the party over more than £600,000 raised for a supposedly “ring-fenced” independence fund.
In an interview on Wednesday, Mr Swinney acknowledged that the money formed part of the SNP’s wider resources, saying: “That money is part of the resources that are available within the Scottish National Party to support its independence objectives, and the SNP is the party of independence.”
The remarks amount to a stunning admission that money raised from members and supporters for a future independence referendum campaign was not, in practice, ring-fenced for that purpose but instead became part of the SNP’s general activities.
Swinney’s comments come in the wake of Peter Murrell’s conviction for embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP, adding to growing concerns about financial management and governance at the heart of the party.
Taken together, these scandals involve more than £1 million of money entrusted to the SNP by its own members and supporters that has been pilfered by senior party figures like Swinney and Murrell.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “After spending the past week angrily shouting at opposition politicians and journalists, John Swinney has finally admitted that the SNP have defrauded their members again.
“SNP members and supporters donated their hard-earned money believing it would be used for a future referendum campaign. John Swinney has now admitted that it became part of the SNP’s general resources.
“People will rightly ask whether they were misled. They will rightly ask why the SNP continues to resist scrutiny. And they will rightly ask why John Swinney is so desperate to avoid a full inquiry.
“Up to one million pounds may now have been stolen from SNP members – they and the public deserve answers about this criminal enterprise masquerading as a political party.
“John Swinney has been at the heart of this scandal-ridden party for decades. No amount of evasion or bluster can hide the fact that serious questions remain unanswered.”
Certainly exposes the utter spin, denial and corruption of the Sturgeon Murrell gang.
Sturgeon and others have spent years publicly denying that this supposedly ring fenced donation money was gone.
But now with the jailing of Murrell for fraud and the pressure building up on Sturgeon hitherto protected, Swinney is now bowing to the undeniable. The money is gone and unlike the campervan and coffee machine that she didn’t see in the £500k fraud. Sturgeon is going to have difficulty explaining how she didn’t know that some £667?k of donors money had been spent.
The whole rotten enterprise is unravelling and it is hard to think that Sturgeon and others can remain unscathed in these multiple frauds.
Time to have the matter laid before a court of law. Our standing as a country with a fair and impartial legal system demands it.