Inquiries regarding the misuse of SNP finances finally reached their peak after former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested on Sunday 11th June. This follows the April 5th 2023 arrest of her husband, Peter Murrel, who was formerly the Chief Executive of the Scottish National Party.
According to the Scottish National Party website, Scotland has been neglected by Westminster, and the only solution to the many problems facing Scotland, such as Brexit, which is said to have caused a range of issues in itself, is to be a completely independent nation, free from the jurisdiction of Westminster. The argument being that this would allow Scotland’s future to be in Scotland’s hands.
In the words of Nicola Sturgeon herself during a speech to the Scottish Parliament less than a year ago, “Scotland – over generations – has paid a price for not being independent. Westminster governments we don’t vote for, imposing policies we don’t support, too often holding us back from fulfilling our potential.”
The existence and nature of “Operation Branchform”, the code-name for the SNP fraud investigation conducted by Police Scotland is nothing short of a blatant clash between what the Scottish National Party has been campaigning for, and what they are potentially guilty of.
There have been investigations over whether the sum of £666,953, built from the ground up from donations and funding, specifically for a strong campaign for a second Scottish independence referendum was spent on unrelated matters. It can be argued that the misuse of funding for an independence referendum, something which has been fought for decades in Scotland, potentially undermines the perceived importance of independence as well as the values and integrity of both the Scottish National Party, and Nicola Sturgeon, who held the position of First Minister from 2014-2023 and stood for extended devolved powers in Scotland and eventually complete independence. According the polls using the 2014 referendum question, in recent times, the desire for independence has been teetering, with 43% saying Yes to independence, with 50% saying No and the rest undecided from the 3-5 June 2023, compared to 51% saying Yes to independence to 45% saying No with the rest undecided from the 15-21 May 2023.
Although Sturgeon was released without charge shortly after, the investigations are still pending, and the outcome could have a considerable impact on public trust on the SNP, if it has not already done so.
Hamza Yousaf has recently had his determination to deliver an independence referendum to the Scottish people questioned. Attention has been partially shifted towards him, particularly by the opposition, as he has often supported Sturgeon, and has also rejected calls to suspend Sturgeon from the SNP. Seeing as Yousaf is now the face of the SNP after replacing Sturgeon, any kind of scrutiny placed on him based on his response to the allegations, coupled with the fact that it’s not known how much of the SNP were aware of the misplaced funds, and finally the fact that he follows the same independence doctrine as Sturgeon did could reflect badly on the party and its potential to support the interests of the Scottish people. If the investigations concludes that Sturgeon did indeed mismanage the hefty six figure sum, this could have irreversible impacts on public trust, and could possibly even strengthen the existent Labour presence in Scotland.
Even if she is acquitted of the charges, there could still be lingering questions and scrutiny from political opponents of Sturgeon and even Yousaf regarding their integrity. At the same time, it would be a great relief for supporters of the SNP, and could be a boost for the credibility of the SNP and therefore could have a positive impact on the push for independence in Scotland.
