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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
John Crace

SNP’s arrested development gives Humza Yousaf a new headache

Humza Yousaf
Humza Yousaf in the main chamber of the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh on Tuesday. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

You couldn’t make this stuff up. Within weeks of Nicola Sturgeon announcing her decision to step down as party leader – she was just burned out, she said – the Scottish National party has gone into total meltdown. Less the ruling party in Scotland, more like the Keystone Cops. Only it’s not entirely clear whether we’re in the middle of a farce or criminal proceedings. Perhaps both.

It began with the arrest of Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, the chief executive of the SNP, at his home in Glasgow. Allegedly in connection with £600,000 of donations that may or may not have been used for day-to-day party expenses. Within hours, the front and back gardens had forensic tents erected in them and the police were reportedly digging up the patio. Everyone was tight-lipped about what the search was looking for: money? Accounts? Laptops? Bodies? Anything was possible. All we needed was Emilia Fox and the Silent Witness TV crew.

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