JOHN Swinney has said the SNP are in discussions with HMRC over the possible implications of Peter Murrell's embezzlement on the payment of tax.
The First Minister said on Wednesday that the party had contacted His Majesty's Revenue and Customs following the former chief executive's guilty plea after embezzling £400,000 from the party.
During the first session of leaders First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Swinney was pressed on Murrell’s crimes and the wider implications, the crowdfunded referendum money that Swinney said on Wednesday had been spent, and calls for a public inquiry into the scandal by the leaders of Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories and Scottish LibDems.
The Scottish Greens pressed the first minister on his commitment to ending LGBT+ conversion practices, while Reform UK asked about income tax.
Anas Sarwar told the Holyrood chamber that Swinney had “finally admitted” that the cash raised for an independence referendum campaign had been “used for other expenses”.
Questions over the funds sparked Operation Branchform, the police probe that led to the revelations of Murrell’s embezzlement from the SNP. A second complaint was lodged with police on Wednesday evening, the Scottish Labour leader added.
“A specific website was created. It was explicit that people were donating to a ring fenced independence campaign fund,” Sarwar said, adding that this had been repeated in letters, social media posts and media interviews.
“That was clearly a lie,” he added. “Will the First Minister now apologise to all those members of the public whose hard-earned cash his party took on false pretences, and will he, unlike Nicola Sturgeon, fully co-operate with any new police investigation?”
Swinney replied: “What I said yesterday was nothing different to what the Scottish National Party said in 2021 So I think Mr Sarwar has got to do a wee bit of a check on his press cuts before he tries to put that into his comments.
“I don't think it will be a surprise to members of the public that the Scottish National Party and John Swinney believe in Scottish independence. We raised money to deliver Scottish independence, and we've got every intention of delivering Scottish independence.”
In response to Sarwar stating that he had written to HMRC requesting a full investigation into the “potential defrauding of the public purse” and if the First Minister would launch his own audit to ensure public money was not misused, Swinney said that Murrell’s embezzlement “does have potential implications in relation to the payment of taxation”.
“That's why the Scottish National Party has already opened up discussions with His Majesty's Revenue and Customs on exactly that point, so that we proactively in making sure that we deliver the highest standards of financial governance, which is exactly what I preside over, is taken forward at our own request with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.”
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay, also press on Murrell, asking Swinney if he was sure the former SNP chief executive “didn’t get his sticky fingers on any public money”.
Swinney insisted that through audits provided to the Electoral Commission the party had seen “no evidence of any use of policy development grant funds”.
Findlay accused Swinney of performing “crocodile tears” and treating SNP members and the public with “contempt”. He referred to Alastair Cameron, an SNP member who had donated money for years to the party, who passed away a few months ago aged 89.
Findlay said his daughter, Susan, said that he would feel “betrayed” by Murrell and those who “facilitated and enabled his crime spree”. The Scottish Tory leader then accused Swinney of “angry fake deflection” and said his leadership was now on the line.
“What an absolutely pathetic spectacle to bring to Parliament,” Swinney fired back.
At one point during the exchange, Sarwar could be seen mimicking playing a violin from a sedentary position.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, for the Scottish LibDems, pressed on calls for a parliamentary inquiry, accusing the Scottish Government of “blocking it”, and linking this to Reform MSP Graham Simpson’s previous bid to bring in a recall petition for MSPs.
He accused the First Minister of not thinking people “should be able to have the right to sack their MSPs when there is probable misconduct”.
Swinney pointed out that in the past week he had said he would support Simpson’s attempt to bring the legislation back in this parliamentary term.
Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer pressed Swinney on committing to bringing in an LGBT+ conversion practices ban during Pride Month, and asked if plans would be in the Programme for Government in September.
The First Minister said equalities minister Simita Kumar was engaging with the UK Government on that issue.
