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The National
29-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
On independence strategy, John Swinney has lost the dressing room
We could point to a string of recent examples of competent governance and say: "Imagine what we could do with independence" — with the clear implication that we'd be amplifying those successes. Fast forward to 2026, we're on our third first minister in a single parliamentary term. Operation Branchform still lingers. Major projects are behind schedule. A minister racks up £11,000 in roaming charges — and keeps their job. The Deposit Return Scheme is scrapped. And the list goes on. When we repeat the call for independence, people will quite rightly ask what would we "amplify" now? We won our majority in 2011 because we were competent, collaborative, and effective. We delivered despite the composition of the parliament and limits of devolution. That gave us the credibility to ask for more. What successes do we have to point to from the 2021 to 2026 term? Given the reality we're facing, the idea that we can significantly improve the SNP's position ahead of Holyrood 2026 is ambitious to say the least. That's why I, along with many activists, are calling on the party leadership to recognise a hard truth: If we're serious about delivering a mandate for independence, we may well need to work with others to achieve it. At a time when we need inspiration and hope, we're faced instead with disengagement and despair. At a time when we need bold strategy and an inclusive campaign that brings the whole movement with us, we get caution, dogma, and "it's my ball" politics. Not all of this is John Swinney's fault, but as the current leader one thing clearly is ... John believes (many feel mistakenly) that he alone holds the constitutional authority to decide the party's independence strategy. And despite the best efforts of committed activists to urge a change in course, he's pressing ahead, undeterred and unbending. At the recent National Council, John laid out this plan to those assembled. Many of us questioned it, respectfully but robustly. But not one person, not a single delegate got up to say "John, you've got this. I believe in you." That silence spoke volumes ... Sadly, John wasn't listening. Put simply, he's lost the dressing room.
Glasgow Times
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Cost of probe into SNP finances soars to £2.7 million
According to the latest figures released from Police Scotland the force has spent more than £2.2million on their four year Operation Branchform inquiry, which ended this Spring. Earlier this month it was revealed that the separate cost to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service - who will lead any future prosecution - have more than doubled from £206,000 in February to £460,000 this month. That brings the total spent so far by both police and prosecutors to £2.68 million with further extra costs expected. READ NEXT: Nicola Sturgeon to do high profile TV special ahead of memoir release READ NEXT: Glasgow restaurant announces 'closure' - here's exactly why Operation Branchform investigated allegations that £666,953 raised by the [[SNP]] since 2017, specifically to campaign for independence in a proposed second Scottish independence referendum, was spent unlawfully on other activities. The figures released under Freedom of Information (FOI) to the Daily Record also show that £2.1 million was to cover police officer salary costs. They also reveal a cost of £94,927 in police officer overtime, £2,962 in police staff overtime, £7,691 in transport costs including flights and £11,020 in supplies and services. The police investigation was launched in July 2021 following a number of complaints and concluded in March this year. During that 44 month period Nicola Sturgeon resigned as First Minister and [[SNP]] leader in February 2023 and was replaced by Humza Yousaf. Police officers searched the SNP's headquarters in April 2023 (Image: PA) In April that year, her husband and SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell was arrested. He was later charged by Police Scotland and appeared in court in March this year on one charge of embezzlement where he made no plea and was granted bail. No date has yet been given for his second court appearance. Earlier this month, the Scottish Legal Aid Board confirmed Murrell had been granted legal aid for his defence. As part of the Police Scotland investigation officers searched Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon's home near Glasgow and the SNP's headquarters in Edinburgh. A motorhome, worth around £110,000, was subsequently seized from the home of Mr Murrell's mother in Fife by Branchform detectives. One of Scotland's leading KCs Joanna Cherry also called on prosecutors this month to make public the specific details of the allegations against Mr Murrell. Writing on X the former SNP MP said: "I can't understand the delay in indicting Peter Murrell. It's way past time the detail of the charges against him were in the public domain." During Operation Branchform Ms Sturgeon was also arrested and questioned, as was Colin Beattie, the former SNP treasurer. However the police investigations against both ended in March with no charges or further action against either. Murrell, who is now separated from Ms Sturgeon, stood down as SNP Chief Executive in 2023 following a row over party membership figures.
The Herald Scotland
29-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Cost of probe into SNP finances soars to £2.7 million
Earlier this month it was revealed that the separate cost to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service - who will lead any future prosecution - have more than doubled from £206,000 in February to £460,000 this month. That brings the total spent so far by both police and prosecutors to £2.68 million with further extra costs expected. READ MORE: [[Operation Branchform]] investigated allegations that £666,953 raised by the [[SNP]] since 2017, specifically to campaign for independence in a proposed second Scottish independence referendum, was spent unlawfully on other activities. The figures released under Freedom of Information (FOI) to the Daily Record also show that £2.1 million was to cover police officer salary costs. They also reveal a cost of £94,927 in police officer overtime, £2,962 in police staff overtime, £7,691 in transport costs including flights and £11,020 in supplies and services. The police investigation was launched in July 2021 following a number of complaints and concluded in March this year. During that 44 month period Nicola Sturgeon resigned as First Minister and [[SNP]] leader in February 2023 and was replaced by Humza Yousaf. Police officers searched the SNP's headquarters in April 2023 (Image: PA) In April that year, her husband and [[SNP]] Chief Executive Peter Murrell was arrested. He was later charged by Police Scotland and appeared in court in March this year on one charge of embezzlement where he made no plea and was granted bail. No date has yet been given for his second court appearance. Earlier this month, the Scottish Legal Aid Board confirmed Murrell had been granted legal aid for his defence. As part of the Police Scotland investigation officers searched Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon's home near Glasgow and the [[SNP]]'s headquarters in Edinburgh. A motorhome, worth around £110,000, was subsequently seized from the home of Mr Murrell's mother in Fife by Branchform detectives. One of Scotland's leading KCs Joanna Cherry also called on prosecutors this month to make public the specific details of the allegations against Mr Murrell. Writing on X the former SNP MP said: "I can't understand the delay in indicting Peter Murrell. It's way past time the detail of the charges against him were in the public domain." During Operation Branchform Ms Sturgeon was also arrested and questioned, as was Colin Beattie, the former SNP treasurer. However the police investigations against both ended in March with no charges or further action against either. Mr Murrell, who is now separated from Ms Sturgeon, stood down as SNP Chief Executive in 2023 following a row over party membership figures.
Scottish Sun
02-07-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell's ‘embezzlement' legal costs to be paid by taxpayer after legal aid granted
He appeared in court earlier this year FIGHTING FUND Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell's 'embezzlement' legal costs to be paid by taxpayer after legal aid granted NICOLA Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell has been granted legal aid after being charged with embezzlement. The 60-year-old former SNP chief exec was charged in March as a long running police probe into the party's finances came to an end. Advertisement 4 Peter Murrell has been granted legal aid Credit: Getty 4 The former FM's husband was charged with embezzlement earlier this year Credit: AP 4 It saw the end of the long running Operation Branchform probe into SNP cash Credit: Reuters Operation Branchform was launched in 2021 and probed the fate of £600,000 raised for an independence campaign between 2017 and 2019. The former First Minister's estranged husband appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court over the charge. It has now emerged Murrell's application for legal aid was granted, reports The Daily Record. The Scottish Legal Aid board received an application from Murrell's solicitors, which was granted on April 30. Advertisement So far no payments have been made, but officials say Murrell "met the tests" for receiving the cash. Legal aid chiefs would have checked information his salary, cash in his bank accounts and other investments while considering his application. It is currently not known how much Murrell was earning while serving as the Nats chief exec. But when the role was advertised in 2023, Murrell's successor Murray Foote was earning £95,000-a-year. Advertisement And then when the role was again advertised in January, the salary was listed as "competitive". Murrell was granted bail after his first court appearance and no dates have been set by the Crown Office. A spokesperson for the Scottish Legal Aid Board said: 'When assessing an applicant's eligibility for legal aid we look at their financial position at the time of their application to ensure they meet tests set by legal aid legislation. 'This includes information they give us about their salary, the amount of money they have in the bank and any investments, which might be available to fund their own defence privately. Advertisement 'Peter Murrell's application met the tests we have to apply when deciding whether to grant legal aid.' The dramatic Branchform probe saw Murrell arrested in 2023 but then released without charge. It saw an army of cops raid the SNP's party HQ in Edinburgh and swoop on he and Nicola Sturgeon's home in an early morning blitz. Ms Sturgeon and the party's ex-treasurer Colin Beattie were both arrested amid the probe and later found to have committed no wrongdoing. Advertisement The former leader also revealed earlier this year how her marriage to Peter Murrell had ended. Speaking about Murrell's legal aid win, Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie said: 'Taxpayers will be scratching their heads at why they should have to foot the bill for Peter Murrell - a man who has been charged with embezzlement. "It is also particularly galling that Peter Murrell will be receiving legal aid after the SNP government has repeatedly ignored warnings about the financial pressures raised by lawyers." While Scottish Tory MSP Liam Kerr added: 'It will stick in the throats of hard-pressed Scots that they're picking up the tab for this, especially at a time when his party have squeezed the legal aid budget.' Advertisement
The Herald Scotland
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Police Scotland doesn't even log the sex of suspects properly
And whilst there are far fewer of them on the roads, a vehicle fleet in which hardly an engine gets the chance to go cold from one end of the day to the next is also likely to have the odd metal-on-metal encounter with others. Paying out for such things is to be expected. If that were the end of it, I suspect the vast majority of us would shrug our shoulders and take a pragmatic view that there wasn't really much to see here. But as with so many things in policing, that is a long way short of the whole story — and the service's approach to dealing with these incidents, and the inevitable questions the payments invite, points to something altogether more concerning. Read more Our police service has wholeheartedly embraced a sackcloth-and-ashes approach to institutional failings of misogyny, racism, and sexism. Our Chief Constable was barely a few hours into the job when she told us all she agreed with her predecessor — who himself had had a Damascene conversion on this just before he retired. Indeed, such was the speed with which Jo Farrell was able to weigh up the evidence for herself that you have to wonder how it took so long for the Branchform inquiry into the SNP finances to come to a close. On top of that, the service is never shy to remind us how it fails the LGB and TQIA+ community, and has apologised for upholding the law as it now seeks to incorporate as many rainbows as possible into life as penance for its past misdeeds. Self-evidently, these kinds of pronouncements grab headlines and create a feeding frenzy of manufactured outrage, as well as cottage industries, pledges, and even more corporate jargon that allows a feeling of righteousness to wash over those at the top. New posters on walls, mandatory re-education for "wrong-think", and countless meetings to give the impression of action — all add to the necessary cleansing, and most crucially of all, serve to distract from the one true failing in the police: that of institutional dishonesty. Informed by the maxim of never asking a question you don't already know the answer to, I recently FOI'd our national service to ask how many policies, procedures, and guidance documents had been changed since Iain Livingstone told us this was where many of the institutional failures lay. Many of the claims made against the service are filed by its own officers, says Calum Steel, a former leader of the Scottish Police Federation (Image: free) Whilst I'm still in the FOI war of attrition awaiting the outcome of an appeal to get the service to properly respond, I already know the answer is none. In fact, the best one deputy chief constable can muster as evidence to support the institutional punishment-beating being meted out is that the resuscitation dummies used to practise first aid skills are all white! Now, that would be funny enough if it were true — but it's hilarious because it is not. The desperation to manufacture evidence to support the claims, and the corporate industry it now sustains, has been there from the get-go. The very day Iain Livingstone rang the bell and shouted "unclean", the service's own equality advisor was in front of the cameras declaring that the data held by the service proved there was a disparity in the service provided to some sections of the community. Cue another FOI to reveal that there was, in fact, no data — but by that time the seeds had been sown and the damage done. Police station closures are met with fantastical claims of improving officer morale and service to the public, while cutting the number of road policing officers is packaged as delivering intelligence-led patrols on targeted routes — even though road deaths are increasing. The shocking state of police morale and ever-increasing sickness rates are body-swerved with pledges that well-being is prioritised, despite HMICS investigations 'finding no recognition or reference to areas of significant stress in any of the work being undertaken in relation to well-being.' And best of all, the decline in the quality of recruits to the service is sold as evidence of a steadfast commitment to standards — despite one in five now failing vetting, against a historic position of one in fifty. Read more You'd like to believe that such a casual relationship with the truth would have some serious consequences for the service, or at least raise the curiosity of its oversight body— but so ingrained is this institutional duplicity that it passes entirely without comment. It is against this backdrop that we have to look at the compensation numbers and ask why it is that the service doesn't give even broad details of what the payments were for. After costing the public purse some £18 million, a smidgen of openness shouldn't be demanded — it should be automatic. The hard truth is, many of the claims made against the service are made by its own officers. If made public, they would point to a service which treats its own people deplorably and is never held to account for doing so — such is the consequence of the confidentiality clauses which accompany nearly all settlements. This is what lies behind the endemic confusion within the service on how to deal with issues of sex and gender, which allows the Chief Constable to say one thing while allowing her officers to do the opposite. It is an abdication of leadership and serves only one purpose: the continuing prioritisation of feelings over facts. Calum Steele is a former General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, and former general secretary of the International Council of Police Representative Associations. He remains an advisor to both
