John Swinney faces a long, hot summer as the Peter Murrell scandal continues to generate more questions than answers. Lord Young, the judge who sentenced the former SNP chief executive to five years in prison, stated that it remains unclear what drove Murrell to spend so erratically for so long with money that was not his.
Court Reveals Shame but Not Motive
The court heard how ashamed Nicola Sturgeon's estranged husband is, but there was no explanation for his criminal motivations. Regardless, Murrell is now behind bars, where he belongs. However, the questions facing the SNP are still out in the open.
We still do not know why the party's internal governance – at a time it was running the Scottish Government – was so incredibly weak that one individual could steal with seeming impunity. We also do not know why no senior figure in the party stepped in to stop Murrell before the police did. As Lord Young noted, his offending was only halted by Operation Branchform.
Whistleblowers Silenced
There are also questions over why internal whistleblowers, concerned about the party they worked tirelessly for, were told to stay quiet when they asked questions about the state of the SNP's books in 2020 and 2021. After SNP and Green MSPs voted to block a Holyrood inquiry on the matter, fresh concerns about a wider lack of scrutiny in Scottish politics flared up again last week.
When it opened in 1999, the Scottish Parliament was supposed to operate in a very different manner from Westminster. It was intended to be a place where politicians could mingle openly with staff members, journalists, and invited guests. Newspaper reporters and broadcast journalists have long stopped MSPs for a quick chat before or after debates in the chamber.
Journalists Corralled
It was here yesterday that Swinney stopped to speak to about 20 journalists in the hours after Murrell was sentenced. Standing behind this scrum of reporters and political advisers was a pen – the kind you see erected in a museum behind a closed exhibit – where journalists were supposed to be standing. Parliamentary bosses, acting on complaints from MSPs, had wanted reporters to be corralled together so they cannot approach politicians with legitimate questions. It was a ridiculous position to take and one that quite rightly was subsequently ignored by journalists.
Although this crackdown was supported by a cross-party group of MSPs, it speaks of a wider culture within the SNP government of dodging awkward questions. One of the reasons Murrell got away with his embezzlement for so long was because seemingly no one dared question the party's chief executive.
Transparency Needed
Recent events have shown that Scottish politics needs more transparency, not less. We cannot allow a growing culture of secrecy to envelop Holyrood. Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google's preferred sources.
