The leader of the Scottish Greens has deleted a tweet praising disgraced Peter Murrell for securing him a massive 25% pay rise.
Ross Greer’s previous message of staunch support for the former SNP chief executive has vanished from the X platform.
It comes as the Greens are expected to kill plans for Holyrood to launch an inquiry into Murrell’s corruption.
Crooked Murrell is facing jail time after he admitted embezzling over £400,000 of funds from the SNP when he was married to Nicola Sturgeon.
But Murrell quit as CEO in 2023 over an earlier scandal involving misleading SNP membership numbers.
On the same day as Murrell’s resignation, Greer lavished praise on him for his actions during the independence referendum.
Greer had been a staff member at the pro-independence Yes Scotland, which worked closely with the SNP in 2014.
The MSP tweeted: “When I worked at @YesScotland I was *massively* underpaid compared to my colleagues. That was until someone told @PeterMurrell and he kicked off about it on my behalf, without even needing to be asked. Our management team gave me a 25% pay rise soon after.”
A link to the post now states: “This page doesn’t exist. Try searching for something else.”
It is understood the post was deleted after Murrell’s guilty verdict.
Murrell, whose thieving began in 2010, was arrested weeks after resigning and Greer’s tweet.
View 2 ImagesPeter Murrell(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “Ross Greer’s belatedly realised his gushing praise for Peter Murrell was totally misguided.
“Even at the time of his tweet the SNP’s former CEO was mired in scandal and was arrested only a matter of weeks later.
“If Greer truly wants to distance himself from his disgraced friends in the SNP then he should do the right thing and back our calls for a Parliamentary inquiry.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour will force a vote on Wednesday on Holyrood staging a parliamentary inquiry into the Murrell scandal.
They want a probe to look into aspects of the case involving public money, including the length of the police investigation and actions of the Crown Office.
John Swinney’s SNP are opposed to an inquiry and Greer’s party will also vote against an inquiry, meaning the Labour proposal appears to be dead.
A Scottish Greens spokesperson said: “Peter Murrell’s crimes were a terrible breach of the trust of SNP members and supporters. He will now face the consequences of that.
“If further investigations are needed, they should be led by the independent Electoral Commission or Police Scotland, not political parties.
“There is an obvious conflict of interest in parties ‘investigating’ each other like this, not to mention the cost on top of the millions already spent on the police investigation.
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“Scottish Green MSPs will focus on delivering policies that save people money and protect our planet. That is what all parties should focus on, rather than trying to turn our justice system into a political circus.”
If Holyrood refuses to launch a probe, Westminster’s Scottish Affairs committee is ready to embark on its own investigation.
It is understood the committee has already begun a scoping exercise on a potential probe.