Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf is overseeing his party’s finances after Colin Beattie resigned as treasurer of the Scottish National Party (SNP) following his arrest.
He said on Wednesday that he would step back from his role as SNP treasurer and give up his position on the Public Audit Committee of the Scottish Parliament.
As SNP leader, Yousaf is now required to take on the role, but he told the BBC he hopes someone would be appointed to the job in the coming days.
“We’ll appoint a treasurer in the coming days, but of course, as party leader, I’ll make sure I’m overseeing the finances of the party. But we’ll appoint a new national treasurer as soon as we can,” he said.
‘Avoid Further Distraction’
In his statement, Beattie said: “This afternoon, I informed the party leader that I will be stepping back from my role as SNP national treasurer with immediate effect.“I have also informed the SNP chief whip at Holyrood that I will be stepping back from my role on the Public Audit Committee until the police investigation has concluded.
“On a personal level, this decision has not been easy, but it is the right decision to avoid further distraction to the important work being led by Humza Yousaf to improve the SNP’s governance and transparency.
“I will continue to cooperate fully with Police Scotland’s inquiries and it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further on a live case.”
Police Probe
Beattie was the second person arrested in the investigation into how more than £600,000 in donations to Scotland’s ruling party earmarked for an independence referendum had been used.Earlier this month, former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell—husband of Scotland’s former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon—was arrested and questioned for more than 11 hours before being released without charge “pending further investigation.”
A luxury motorhome was seized by police from outside a property in Dunfermline on the same morning that Murrell was arrested.
The police investigation into the SNP’s finances began in July 2021, following complaints about how donations given to the party for use in a fresh independence referendum campaign had been used.
Two SNP MPs had quit the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in May of that year, citing a lack of transparency.
But the SNP leadership strongly denied claims the money raised for independence campaigning was diverted elsewhere.
Sturgeon, who was then first minister and SNP leader, insisted she was “not concerned” about the party’s finances and that “every penny” of cash raised in online crowdfunding campaigns would be spent on the independence drive.
The party said it raised a total of £666,953 through referendum-related appeals between 2017 and 2020.
But questions were raised after its accounts showed it had just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019, and total net assets of about £272,000.
It emerged last year that Murrell had loaned the SNP £107,620 in June 2021. An SNP spokesman said at the time that the loan was a “personal contribution made by the chief executive to assist with cash flow after the Holyrood election.”
‘Poor Stewardship of Public Money’
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the decision to step aside as treasurer is right, but was taken “by the wrong man”—accusing the SNP leader of “playing for time.”Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said the treasurer post would be the “least appealing” job in Scottish politics.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy suggested Beattie should have been suspended as soon as he was arrested.
But Yousaf said he did not think that would be “the right thing,” given Beattie had not been charged with a crime.
In the Westminster Parliament in London, Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, said on Thursday, “I think the SNP’s membership will feel rightly let down by this, similar to how the rest of Scotland will feel with the SNP’s poor stewardship of public money.”
