John Swinney ignored the elephant in the room by refusing to acknowledge the Peter Murrell scandal in his SNP conference speech, rivals claimed last night.
In his first conference address since the party’s former CEO was jailed for embezzlement, the First Minister made no mention of childhood pal Murrell who he hired in 2001 during his first spell as Nationalist leader. Nor, in a 34-minute address to SNP conference in the Event Complex Aberdeen (TECA) on Saturday, did he name his former boss Nicola Sturgeon, Murrell’s estranged wife and the SNP’s longest-serving first minister.
Murrell, 61, stole more than £400,000 from the SNP in a brazen campaign of fraud spanning over a decade and was sentenced in June to five years in prison.
Rivals criticise silence
Last night, Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said: “SNP members might have expected John Swinney to explain why he and Nicola Sturgeon shut down questions about Peter Murrell, thereby allowing him to steal their cash.”
Swinney has sought to draw a line under the scandal - widely considered the biggest in the history of Scottish devolution - and refused calls for a Holyrood inquiry into the governance and finances of the SNP over the period. However, a probe by Westminster’s influential Scottish Affairs Committee formally launched last week while Police Scotland is facing legal action to force it to reinvestigate the SNP’s finances.
Independence push and bus plans
It comes as Swinney used his keynote address to launch a new push for independence, dubbed the “Choose Scotland” campaign, backed by a six-figure war chest. Claiming the “stars are aligning” for a UK breakup, he told delegates: “Choose Scotland will offer hope - but it will also offer ambition.
“Some think we should just be like Manchester. Well I’m afraid I disagree - Scotland is no city. We are no region. We are a nation, and soon we will be an independent nation.”
Swinney’s speech repeatedly emphasised how he “chooses” Scotland and Scottish independence. Elsewhere in his speech, the First Minister followed the example of Andy Burnham by pledging to bring bus services across Scotland back under “public control” by 2031.
He also confirmed that Aberdeen and the North East would become the latest region to see a £2 bus fare cap from April, following a successful introduction across Glasgow and the west. Swinney said: “We need more buses and we need more frequent buses. It’s good for commuters and it’s good for the climate.”
Bus services outside of London were deregulated by Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government in the 1980s and are widely seen to have deteriorated under private ownership. Greater Manchester brought buses back under public control - different to public ownership - during Burnham’s time as metro mayor. Under Manchester’s rules, the region is divided into large operational blocks with operators bidding to run services under tight local contracts rather than operating on a purely commercial basis. It’s not yet known what model the SNP leader wants to see implemented.
Edinburgh was alone in Scotland in keeping control of its local bus network, with the service in the Capital regularly winning awards and compared favourably to the unpopular network in Glasgow. A Labour source told the Sunday Mail: “John Swinney says he doesn’t need lessons from Manchester, then announces Andy’s plan for buses. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Other pledges and scandal fallout
Swinney also pledged his Government will “combat the rise of the racists” through a £30 million “Scotland Together Fund”. He said his party would “always fight the forces of the far-right”. And Swinney confirmed he will make harassment and abuse based on misogyny a specific criminal offence before the next summer recess at Holyrood. The First Minister announced the timeline for a misogyny bill - previously shelved - at the SNP conference.
But Swinney failed to use his first address to the party faithful since May’s Holyrood election - when the SNP won a record-breaking fifth term in office - to address or apologise for the Murrell scandal which saw members’ donations embezzled. The ex-CEO’s court case was delayed until after the election, meaning voters didn’t know the full details of Murrell’s staggering crime spree - raising questions about the timing from the SNP’s political rivals.
The 61-year-old admitted stealing more than £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period to bankroll his lifestyle, using the cash to buy a bizarre range of high-end goods including luxury pens, La Crueset cookware and hairdryers. He also bought a £124,550 motorhome with SNP funds. Sturgeon has repeatedly insisted she was unaware of the existence of the vehicle - despite having been at the house where it was parked - or any of Murrell’s criminality.
Sturgeon has claimed she was “deceived” by him and has refused to apologise, despite having been SNP leader with ultimate responsibility for the party while the fraud took place. She was photographed wearing jewellery and using Montblanc pens bought by Murrell. A recording leaked to us in 2021 showed Sturgeon warning senior SNP members to be “very careful” about suggesting there were problems with party finances.
Swinney told journalists last week the SNP is still “injured” by the Murrell scandal but claimed his “reassuring leadership” was helping the party through it. He also insisted he is still friends with Sturgeon, who he served as deputy FM for nine years. Murrell could be transported from HMP Dumfries to give evidence to Westminster’s inquiry into the scandal. Sturgeon and Swinney may also be summoned.
The initial police probe into SNP finances, first revealed by the Sunday Mail in 2021, centred around whether £660,000 of “ring-fenced” indyRef2 funds were spent illegally by the SNP. The force’s Operation Branchform later shifted focus to Murrell’s embezzlement. However, Police Scotland has been warned it faces a judicial review for failing to reopen its probe into the ring-fenced money. Wings Over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell, who could bring the case, obtained a legal opinion from Roddy Dunlop KC, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, suggesting there was still crime to be probed.
