Nicola Sturgeon will be quizzed under oath on the Peter Murrell embezzlement scandal if a plan for a Holyrood inquiry is agreed.
Scottish Labour are pushing for public hearings on how the former SNP chief executive got away with stealing from his party for twelve years.
Party deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “A parliamentary inquiry will get to the truth and help to restore trust in politics.”
Murrell, the estranged husband of the former First Minister, pled guilty to embezzling over £400,000 of SNP funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle.
Part of the former SNP chief executive’s haul included two cars, a campervan, designer watches and fancy pens.
His thieving took place between 2010 and 2022, with most of the theft occurring when Sturgeon was First Minister.
View 3 ImagesScottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie(Image: Getty Images)
The pair were Scotland’s premier political power couple but they are in the process of getting divorced.
With Murrell pleading guilty, no trial will take place and there is no opportunity for witnesses to be questioned.
Baillie believes a standalone Holyrood inquiry should be launched to get to the bottom of a scandal that included Murrell spending ringfenced indyref2 donations on himself.
She told the Record: “John Swinney wants to gloss over this scandal with a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude.
“However, there remain serious questions for the SNP and the First Minister to answer, such as why did no-one ask about what happened to the supposedly ringfenced funds?
“If those funds were a key part of the SNP’s drive for another independence campaign, then why did no-one in the party’s HQ think to check about what was happening with it?
“Swinney has been at the heart of the SNP for decades. He was the leader who appointed Peter Murrell as chief executive in 2001, and served as Deputy First Minister during the time that these offences were taking place.
“Therefore, he has a moral obligation to tell the public exactly what he knew and when about these missing funds.
“And if he claims he was not aware, he should explain why not a single person within the SNP leadership had the faintest curiosity to ask about that ringfenced money.
“There are also serious, outstanding questions about why it took Police Scotland several years to complete Operation Branchform.
“And there must be clarity over why the Crown Office deemed it appropriate to tip off the Scottish Government about Nicola Sturgeon not facing charges – and indeed, why Murrell’s hearing was pushed back until after the Scottish Parliament election.”
View 3 ImagesFormer SNP chief executive Peter Murrell (centre) arrives at Edinburgh High Court with his lawyers(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
She said: “These are serious questions, and it is why it is right to have a Parliamentary inquiry into this affair.
“Time and again, the SNP have hidden behind process and failed to tell the truth.
“The SNP cannot be trusted to be honest. If they have nothing to hide, they must come before a Parliamentary inquiry and answer these questions.”
Baillie believes a probe could be modelled on the Parliament’s inquiry into the Sturgeon Government’s unlawful probe into sexual harassment claims against Alex Salmond.
It is understood an investigation could look at how the governing structure of the SNP was not robust enough to stop Murrell.
A probe could also consider the time taken by the police to investigate the allegations and the relationship between the Government and the Crown Office.
Meanwhile, an SNP Government debate on indyref2 powers was derailed by opposition parties raising the Murrell scandal.
Russell Findlay, Scottish Conservatives leader, said: “The timing of today’s debate is comical. Today of all days, John Swinney is banging the independence drum when the news agenda is dominated by his party stealing money from their own members and supporters. Money the SNP promised to ring-fence for independence.
“And here we are just 24 hours after Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, admitted to using over £400,000 of stolen money to fund their lavish lifestyle.
“In 2021, John Swinney went on to the BBC and publicly dismissed valid concerns about the SNP’s finances. Nicola Sturgeon also told those with concerns to stay quiet. And when questioned by police, she repeatedly said ‘no comment’. The tactics of organised crime.”
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South of the border, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there are “questions that need to be answered” after Murrell’s guilty plea.
He said: “Well, I think anybody looking at what’s happening up in Scotland will be baffled that those at the top of the SNP say they didn’t know anything about what was going on, so clearly there are questions that need to be answered.”