The shadow secretary of state for Scotland has today urged a key Westminster committee to probe the failings in financial governance that allowed Peter Murrell to plunder £400,000 from SNP accounts.
Andrew Bowie has written to the chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee requesting an inquiry into the scandal after John Swinney refused to countenance one at Holyrood.
The Scottish Conservative MP says the shortcomings that enabled the SNP’s former chief executive to get away with embezzling funds over several years to pay for a motorhome, cars and luxury household goods must be examined so that lessons can be learned by all political parties.
Bowie described it as “strange and sinister” that Swinney would seek to block a Scottish Parliament inquiry into the actions of Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband, given that he has framed the SNP as the victim of Murrell’s crimes.
Shadow secretary of state for Scotland Andrew Bowie said: “John Swinney’s refusal to sanction a Holyrood inquiry into this scandal means it falls to Westminster to examine the failings in financial governance that allowed Peter Murrell to steal from SNP accounts for years.
“I have written to the chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee requesting a probe because there were clearly systemic failings that Murrell exploited. These need to be identified and addressed so that lessons are learned – not just by the SNP but by all political parties.
“It’s strange and sinister that Swinney is opposed to an inquiry. If, as he says, the SNP is the victim in this, then surely he’d want to know exactly how and why the party was fleeced by Murrell?
“A cynic might think he has something to hide, given he and Nicola Sturgeon sought to silence internal whistleblowers who first raised concerns about the state of the party’s finances.
“But SNP donors deserve answers – and so do taxpayers, as it appears public money was in the pot that Murrell stole from to feather the marital nest he shared with Sturgeon.”