Nicola Sturgeon ordered SNP chiefs to stop talking about party finances and insisted they were 'fine'
dailyrecord.co.ukA furious Nicola Sturgeon ordered senior party figures to stop asking questions about the party’s finances. During an explosive party meeting, the then First Minister tried to quash questions over the missing £600,000 raised through crowdfunders for a second IndyRef.And she dismissed concerns the party’s National Executive Committee was raising about the lack of transparency over party finances.
In a recorded meeting, she said: “We don’t need to talk about the finances. The finances are absolutely fine.”A source said: “She told the meeting that there was nothing wrong with the accounts and that people should stop talking about it because it was undermining the party.
It’s fair to say she was pretty raging about it. She went on at some length telling everyone that everything was absolutely fine and that it shouldn’t be discussed.”Sturgeon’s intervention in August 2021 came two months after her husband and SNP chief executive Peter Murrell had loaned the party more than £100,000 and three months after treasurer Douglas Chapman resigned because he was unable to properly scrutinise the books.The revelation comes after Murrell was arrested at their home in Uddingston as part of a fraud probe into the party.
He was replaced by MSP Colin Beattie who issued a statement assuring members over the concerns about finances.Our revelations that she denied there’s anything wrong come as Sturgeon and Murrell returned to their home which was raided by police investigating alleged fraud.
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