SNP Whistleblowers Report Intimidation Over Finance Concerns Amid Murrell Scandal

Two SNP whistleblowers allege intimidation after raising finance concerns amid Peter Murrell's £400,000 embezzlement scandal. They resigned citing obstruction, while Nicola Sturgeon denies knowledge. Murrell was jailed; SNP leadership faces scrutiny.

Whistleblowers Raise Concerns Over SNP Finances

Two whistleblowers, Cynthia Guthrie and Allison Graham, reported experiencing intimidation when attempting to raise concerns about the Scottish National Party's (SNP) finances during the period in which former chief executive Peter Murrell was embezzling funds from the party.

Guthrie and Graham resigned from the SNP's finance and audit committee in 2021 after only six weeks, alongside Frank Ross, citing obstruction in performing their duties.

In a joint resignation statement with Ross, they accused Murrell of deliberate procrastination in providing requested financial information and suggested there was a "clear intention" to obstruct financial auditing processes.

Peter Murrell's Embezzlement and Legal Outcome

Murrell admitted to embezzling over £400,000 from the SNP over a 12-year period and was sentenced to five years and three months in prison earlier in the week.

The 61-year-old, who is the estranged husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, used the misappropriated funds to purchase items including cars, a motorhome, kitchenware, and toiletries.

Nicola Sturgeon, who has short brown hair, and Peter Murrell, who is bald, standing smiling outside a polling station while leaning on a hand rail. Sturgeon, on the left, is wearing a pink jacket and red top. Murrell is wearing a dark overcoat. — Image caption, Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell announced last year that they had separated

Concerns Raised to Nicola Sturgeon

Guthrie stated that in 2021, she and her fellow committee members informed Sturgeon of "problems with the accounts," but claimed that Sturgeon "failed to follow it through." Sturgeon led the SNP from 2014 to 2023 and shared responsibility for overseeing the party’s accounts during that time.

Despite this, Sturgeon has consistently denied any knowledge of Murrell’s criminal activities, which took place between 2010 and 2022. She was interviewed by police during the Operation Branchform investigation but was not charged.

Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell announced last year that they had separated.

Audit Committee Experiences and Financial Irregularities

Upon joining the audit committee, Guthrie described the party’s financial management as "chaotic" and "incompetent." At their initial meeting in February 2021, they were presented with figures from the previous year.

Graham, who formerly represented Mid Scotland and Fife, noted discrepancies in the figures, stating, "The figures themselves didn't add up. They were out by £1.51m."

When Guthrie inquired about membership numbers, Graham reported encountering "so much distraction and filibustering." The committee members were consistently "stonewalled" in their attempts to understand the finances they were tasked with approving.

Allison Graham has long blonde hair and wears a black and white patterned shirt and dark glasses. She is sitting outside and there is greenery behind her — Image caption, Allison Graham said their questions about the party's finances were "stonewalled"

National Executive Committee and Budget Concerns

Graham, a member of the SNP’s National Executive Committee (NEC), described an NEC meeting where a budget that had not been approved by the finance committee was presented and passed. She expressed feeling that meetings led by then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon were often "deferential" to senior party figures, making it difficult to question leadership authority.

"You couldn't question the authority of the people in the leadership," Graham said.

She also told BBC Scotland News,

"I had no faith in any of the numbers I was shown, because once people lie to you about one thing, you start to question and want more evidence."

Reasons for Resignation and Obstruction

Guthrie explained that while each of the three members had individual reasons for resigning, they collectively objected to the organisation of the party’s finances.

"They were using us to give them a cloak of credibility and we're not doing it," she said.

Cynthia Guthrie wears a brown top, zebra print scarf and dark glasses. She has short fair hair and is sitting outside. She looks slightly concerned — Image caption, Cynthia Guthrie said there should be an inquiry into Murrell's crimes

Ross, Guthrie, and Graham issued a joint statement highlighting their inability to perform their duties due to receiving "inadequate" information, attributing this to "obvious procrastination by the CEO."

"This has extended to ignoring our requests and simply failing to provide basic information which members of FAC require to be able to carry out our work. We can only conclude that there is a clear intention to prevent the FAC from doing its work for whatever reason."

This statement was read by Graham during an online NEC meeting in March 2021.

Following the meeting, Graham reported being "berated" by a councillor and noted that the meeting chat was flooded with support for the councillor, including a message from Sturgeon stating, "Well said." Graham described the experience as "really intimidating" and said she received abuse after the video of the meeting was leaked.

Leaked Video and Sturgeon's Response

A leaked video published by the Sunday Mail showed Sturgeon dismissing concerns about the party’s finances, stating that the SNP had "never been in a stronger financial position than it is right now."

"Just be very careful, all of us, about suggestions that there are problems with the party's finances because we depend on donors to donate. There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party's finances, and all of us need to be careful about not suggesting that there is."

After the backlash at the meeting, Graham said her husband told her she was "normalising bullying in front of our kids" due to the treatment she received.

When asked about the ringfenced independence fund, Guthrie expressed the belief that it was allowed to "seep into the accounts."

Analysis of Murrell's Crimes and Party Governance

The whistleblowers attributed Murrell's ability to embezzle funds to the SNP's lack of governance, curiosity, self-criticism, and structural weaknesses.

Guthrie stated,

"I think there are two ways of dealing with it. You either grab it and you sort it, and I don't understand why John Swinney hasn't done that. At the moment it looks like a big cover-up - as if they woke up one day and discovered that the referendum money had been spent and that they started try to reassure everybody and say 'nothing to see here'."

She added that this environment "totally enabled" Murrell's embezzlement.

Official Responses and Investigations

Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have been approached for comment regarding these allegations.

At First Minister's Questions, John Swinney stated that the SNP was the victim of Murrell's embezzlement and issued an apology to party members.

John Swinney wears dark glasses and wears a navy suit with a white shirt and purple tie in the debating chamber — Image caption, John Swinney said the SNP was the victim of Murrell's embezzlement

Swinney has ruled out an inquiry into Murrell's crimes after the Scottish Parliament rejected such a proposal, explaining that a parliamentary probe would not yield more information than the four-year police investigation.

Sturgeon has repeatedly denied knowledge of her former husband's criminal activities. In her memoir Frankly, she described being "shocked" when police raided her home in 2023. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing and was informed in March 2023 that she was no longer under police investigation.

In an interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Sturgeon stated,

"I am not responsible for the crimes that my former husband committed and I'm not going to apologise for somebody else's crimes."

When asked if she bore any responsibility despite her leadership role, she responded,

"No... [Murrell] perpetrated a crime on the SNP. By definition, that included me as the party leader. He misled. He deceived. He is serving and will be serving a sentence for a crime he committed. I'm out here feeling as if I'm serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit."