A leaked video has emerged appearing to show Nicola Sturgeon playing down worries about the SNP's finances while warning of the impact on donors of going public with concerns. The footage, published by the Sunday Mail, is said to be from a virtual meeting of the party's ruling body recorded in March 2021.
In the clip, the former first minister told the National Executive Committee (NEC) the party's finances had never been stronger. She said she had been on the NEC for 20 years, including times when the party had been 'frankly teetering on the edge of bankruptcy', but added: 'The party has never been in a stronger financial position than it is right now.'
Ms Sturgeon, who appears to have been recorded without her knowledge, also urged members to be careful about suggesting financial problems because the party depended on donors. 'There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party's finances,' she said, and asked them not to leak details from the meeting.
The NEC meeting took place against a backdrop of internal dissent. According to the Sunday Mail, three senior officials had just revealed their intention to resign from the party's finance and audit committee after being denied sight of the accounts. Two NEC members later resigned citing transparency concerns.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy called the timing of Ms Sturgeon's claims 'frankly astonishing', given that police launched an investigation into SNP finances months later. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the 'terminal SNP soap opera' meant other priorities were 'playing second fiddle'.
A spokesperson for the SNP said the party had agreed to increase transparency and that accounts were published annually and were in order. The police investigation, Operation Branchform, led to the arrest of former chief executive Peter Murrell earlier this month, who was later released without charge.
