The long-running inquiry is linked to the spending of around £600,000 raised by supporters and earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning…reports Asian Lite News
The SNP has confirmed former leader Nicola Sturgeon will not be suspended amid a police probe into the party’s funding and finances.
The former first minister was arrested on Sunday morning and questioned for around seven hours before being released without charge pending further investigation.
Responding to calls to suspend the 52-year-old, First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “No, I won’t be suspending Nicola Sturgeon. I’ll be treating her exactly in the same way as I treated, for example, Colin Beattie. Both released without charge, therefore there’s no reason for me to suspend them.”
In light of others being suspended from the SNP in the past in similar circumstances, Mr Yousaf added: “Look, I can only account for the decisions that I make, and I’m aiming to be as consistent in my approach to this. And I have shown that consistency because where individuals have been released without charge, let me emphasise that without charge, therefore I see no reason to suspend them. I can’t account for decisions that have been made in the past. I can only account for the decisions that I choose to make.”
Following her release from custody, Sturgeon said she would “never do anything to harm either the SNP or the country” and described the situation as a “shock and deeply distressing”.
She added: “Obviously, given the nature of this process, I cannot go into detail. However, I do wish to say this, and to do so in the strongest possible terms. Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law. I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.” Police Scotland launched Operation Branchform into the SNP’s funding and finances back in 2021.
The long-running inquiry is linked to the spending of around £600,000 raised by supporters and earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning.
It is understood there have been complaints the ringfenced cash has been used improperly by being spent elsewhere. Sturgeon, the MSP for Glasgow Southside, is the third high-profile SNP politician to be arrested in connection with the probe.
Her husband, ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie were both arrested and later released without charge back in April.
Earlier on Monday, former SNP leadership candidate Ash Regan said Sturgeon should consider resigning her SNP membership. Angus MacNeil, SNP MP, also called for “political distance” amid the “soap opera”, claiming Ms Sturgeon “suspended others from the SNP for an awful lot less” during her time in charge.
SNP MSP Michelle Thomson also suggested Sturgeon should resign the party whip – saying she had had to do it when she was an MP despite not being “personally under investigation” and “certainly not arrested”.
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