Yes Scotland has handed over its full accounts to the police after a complaint was made about its finances. The pro-independence group, which campaigned for a Yes vote in the 2014 referendum, denied claims that £1.5m could not be accounted for.
Background of the allegations
The move comes in the wake of Peter Murrell pleading guilty to stealing over £400,000 of SNP funds when he was party chief executive. Murrell embezzled the cash between 2010 and 2022, a period in which the referendum also took place. Although Yes Scotland was legally separate from the SNP, both groups were heavily linked.
David Henry, a former SNP branch secretary, recently claimed £1.5m of Yes Scotland cash relating to the referendum was missing. He made a police complaint and was due to give a statement on Tuesday to police.
Response from Yes Scotland's legal representative
A lawyer for former Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins said the allegations were false and that all of the income received by Yes Scotland had been fully accounted for. "This story was based on a very basic misunderstanding of accounts and Yes Scotland's financial statements," Jenkins' solicitor Aamer Anwar said. "All of the income received by Yes Scotland is fully accounted for and it is grossly defamatory to say otherwise."
"There appears to have been a desperate attempt to link Peter Murrell's criminal conduct in the SNP to the financial affairs of Yes Scotland. To make it perfectly clear, Mr Murrell never at any time had access to Yes Scotland's accounts."
Voluntary provision of accounts
Yes Scotland Ltd was launched by former SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond to campaign for independence ahead of the referendum. It has not been active since 2014. Anwar said full sets of Yes Scotland accounts for 2013, 2014 and 2015 were voluntarily provided to Police Scotland on 13 July. "To be clear, there is no 'missing' £1.5m," he said. "But what is missing is any explanation as to why it did not occur to those making the allegations that the £1.5m represents spending by the campaign."
