Sir Keir Starmer said “questions need to be answered” after Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband Peter Murrell was able to embezzle £400,000 from the SNP.
Ms Sturgeon has insisted she knew nothing of his criminal activities after the former SNP chief executive pleaded guilty on Monday following a Police Scotland investigation into a £2 million fraud.
But his guilty plea at Edinburgh High Court triggered claims that Ms Sturgeon, the former SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland, may have known about his activities.
Items linked to the embezzlement included the purchase of a £124,550 luxury motorhome, which he parked outside his mother’s home in Fife.
Other items included £2,618 on salt and pepper grinders from Lalique, more than £3,000 on a robotic lawnmower, nearly £2,600 on a coffee machine and £240 on two women’s umbrellas.
Murrell, 61, also admitted to using SNP funds to purchase two Bremont watches for a total of £9,350, a £4,225 Starwalker World Time fountain pen and a £3,500 Hamilton and Inches silver wine coaster.
Ms Sturgeon has said she had “no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever” that personal items had been purchased using SNP funds.
But the current SNP party leader and First Minister John Swinney is under pressure to open a full inquiry into what happened, with Sir Keir also calling for further investigation into the matter.
Asked if Mr Swinney had questions to answer, Sir Keir said: “Well, I think anybody looking at what’s happening up in Scotland will be baffled that those at the top of the SNP say they didn’t know anything about what was going on, so clearly there are questions that need to be answered.”
Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry, a respected lawyer, had lead the calls into an inquiry, adding: “I am calling for an independent inquiry into why the party’s internal governance systems didn’t work at the material time and why those of us who were elected to oversee the party’s finances were prevented from doing so.”
Ms Sturgeon was one of three party officials who was a signatory to the accounts at the time and has been accused of trying to prevent attempts to look into them by Ms Cherry and others.
Another former SNP MP and MSP Michelle Thomson told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “Trust has been breached at the most significant level.”
She described Mr Swinney as “a good man who will take Scotland forward” but added: “In his position as first minister and leader of the SNP it absolutely needs be seen under his watch that things have changed.
“It could start by him apologising to those people who sought to do the right thing, to make sure the governance structures are absolutely sound, and, perhaps, even having an independent inquiry led by an external body into what happened an why.”
In a post on X, another former SNP MSP Joan McAlpine added: “Like every other SNP parliamentarian, I gave the party £250 per month from my personal income after tax. Adding my party membership fees (paid at an enhanced rate) , I think it came to £35,000 over ten years. The £250 sub was an obligation for all MPs and MSPs, but I was happy to pay, as I believed it was going to the cause.”
Meanwhile, Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, called Murrell a “thieving magpie” and urged Ms Sturgeon to “come clean about exactly what she knew and when”. He added: “Nobody in the real world is buying her claims that she didn’t know a thing about the criminal actions of the man she shared a house, life and political party with.”
In a first statement posted on social media, Ms Sturgeon said: “My reaction to the guilty plea tendered today by my former husband is difficult to put into words. I am angry, hurt, sad and very distressed about the impact of his actions on family, friends and the SNP.
“To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain. Why he acted as he did is, and always will be, beyond my comprehension.”
Murrell reportedly earned £104,492 in 2011 but this fell to £79,750 by 2021. Ms Sturgeon’s 2021-22 tax return revealed a gross income of £140,496.
In a second statement issued later by her lawyers, Ms Sturgeon added: “I want to reiterate that I had no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever that personal items had been purchased using SNP funds.
“I was cleared of any wrongdoing after a lengthy and thorough investigation. In relation to many of the items in question, for example expensive watches and games consoles, I was not aware of them having been purchased at all.
“Indeed, in relation to the item of largest value – a campervan – I was not aware of its existence until it featured in the police investigation in early 2023, nor was it parked in our driveway as has been claimed by some.”
In a press conference on Monday, Mr Swinney spoke of a sense of “overwhelming betrayal” and “personal horror” as he apologised to party activists.
He said: “Peter Murrell’s guilty plea confirms that the Scottish National Party has been the victim of embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of pounds of funds provided by SNP members.
“This is an admission of a terrible breach of trust and an overwhelming betrayal by the man entrusted to be the party’s chief executive.”
