The Scottish National party has been accused of “embezzling” voters after opposition leaders highlighted the crisis over Peter Murrell’s misuse of £400,000 from party funds. The scandal overshadowed a Holyrood motion tabled by First Minister John Swinney to call for a second independence referendum.
Fulfilling a promise made during the Holyrood election campaign, Swinney used the first full day of parliamentary business on Tuesday to stage a symbolic vote calling for the power to stage a fresh referendum. He offered no new legal or constitutional arguments that might force the UK government to agree, instead challenging pro-UK parties to accept that Scotland had a right to decide its own future.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said Swinney’s attempt to revisit the independence issue immediately after the election, at a time of global insecurity and a cost of living crisis, was evidence of the SNP’s selfishness. Referring to Murrell’s guilty plea to embezzling SNP funds donated by members, Sarwar said the crimes provided “really stark” evidence that the SNP put its own ambitions first.
Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservative leader, said the timing of Swinney’s debate was “comical” given the political agenda was dominated by Murrell’s embezzlement. He criticised Swinney for helping to quash “valid concerns” about the party’s finances before the police investigation, and accused the SNP of using “the tactics of organised crime”.
Swinney’s efforts were backed by Ross Greer, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, who argued that the combined seats of the SNP and Greens produced Holyrood’s “biggest ever” pro-independence majority. However, Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tories’ finance spokesperson, countered that pro-UK parties won 59% of regional votes on 7 May.
