Colin Beattie has stood down as the Scottish National party’s treasurer after his arrest on Tuesday as a suspect in the police investigation into the party’s funding and finances.
His announcement came as the new leadership under Humza Yousaf struggled to maintain focus on the business of government amid the ongoing turmoil, as well as accusations from opposition leaders of secrecy, incompetence and financial mismanagement.
Beattie, the SNP MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that he would be stepping back from his role as 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,” he said.
“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 enquiries and it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further on a live case.”
But opposition parties said Yousaf’s failure to suspend Beattie immediately following his arrest showed a lack of leadership. The Scottish Conservative chairman, Craig Hoy MSP, said: “Humza Yousaf is like a rabbit in the headlights. His failure to remove Colin Beattie from these roles – as well as not suspending Peter Murrell and Nicola Sturgeon – makes a mockery of claims that he has taken decisive action.”
Responding to Beattie’s statement, the Scottish Labour deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, said: “This is the right decision, made by the wrong man. While Humza Yousaf played for time and failed to do the right thing, Colin Beattie at least could see the writing on the wall.
“For too long, a culture of secrecy and cover-up has been allowed to fester at the heart of the SNP. Humza Yousaf’s failure to act has made it clear – his priority is the cover up to protect the SNP, not the people of Scotland.”
Beattie, 71, was released on Tuesday evening without charge pending further investigation after being questioned by detectives investigating the party’s handling of about £600,000 in donations, which were raised to fund a future campaign for a second independence referendum but, it is alleged, were instead used for the day-to-day running of the party.
Beattie’s detention followed the arrest earlier this month of Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon’s husband and the former SNP chief executive. Their home in Glasgow and the party’s headquarters in Edinburgh were searched, and a motorhome parked outside Murrell’s mother’s house in Fife was seized.
Murrell was also released later without charge, pending further investigation.
Earlier on Wednesday, Yousaf’s newly appointed deputy first minister, Shona Robison, told the BBC that the new first minister, who has been in post for only three weeks, had taken “very swift action to ensure that party members as well as the public can be confident in the future governance and transparency of the party”.
On Saturday, the SNP’s ruling national executive council ordered a transparency and governance review in the wake of ongoing revelations, including that the party has been without auditors for over six months.
Robison went on: “We’ve got to absolutely get our house in order, the public will expect nothing else, but meanwhile we also have to address some of those concerns that the public have about other matters like the cost-of-living crisis.”
Kate Forbes, who Yousaf narrowly beat to the leadership last month, said voters needed to see a decisive response to the “mind-blowing” revelations. She told BBC Radio 4’s Leading Scotland Where? programme, which airs on Wednesday evening: “We need decisive and quick action or we will be in trouble.
“I think right now, people are watching with astonishment, but they want to see leadership in dealing with it and resolving it.”
Beattie’s arrest on Tuesday overshadowed Yousaf’s first major policy statement to MSPs since his election as SNP leader last month.
Yousaf had told reporters at Holyrood he intended to speak to Beattie in due course about whether he should remain as party treasurer, saying his arrest “was a very serious matter” but adding: “People are innocent until proven guilty.”
Beattie, a former banker, previously served as party treasurer for 16 years until he lost the post in an internal election to Douglas Chapman in 2020. Chapman then resigned as treasurer in 2021 after protesting that he had not had enough access to the party’s financial information. Beattie stepped in to replace him.
