SNP leader Humza Yousaf is facing demands to suspend Nicola Sturgeon today after her dramatic arrest in the probe into the party’s finances.
Mr Yousaf is being urged by senior colleagues to take action after his predecessor was subjected to around seven hours of questioning by police yesterday.
Ms Sturgeon – who insisted she is ‘innocent of any wrongdoing’ and has been released without charge – became the third high-profile SNP figure detained in connection with alleged irregularities in the party’s finances.
Her husband Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, has also been arrested and released pending further inquiries.
SNP leader Humza Yousaf is facing demands to suspend Nicola Sturgeon (file picture) today after her dramatic arrest in the probe into the party’s finances
Former SNP leadership contender Ash Regan said Ms Sturgeon should resign her party membership following her arrest
SNP MP Angus MacNeil tweeted suggesting that Ms Sturgeon should now be suspended from the party
After being released from custody just after 5pm last night, Ms Sturgeon – who is still an MSP – tweeted her ‘shock’ and ‘distress’ at the situation.
She said: ‘To find myself in the situation I did today when I am certain I have committed no offence is both a shock and deeply distressing.
‘I know that this ongoing investigation is difficult for people, and I am grateful that so many continue to show faith in me and appreciate that I would never do anything to harm either the SNP or the country.’
Ms Sturgeon went on to say that she was ‘innocent of any wrongdoing,’ adding: ‘Obviously, given the nature of this process, I cannot go into detail.
‘However, I do wish to say this, and to do so in the strongest possible terms. Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law. I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.’
Ms Sturgeon thanked her family and friends for giving her ‘much-needed strength’ at this time and said she would take a ‘day or two’ to process the latest development.
‘Finally, while I will take a day or two to process this latest development, I intend to be back in Parliament soon where I will continue to represent my Glasgow Southside constituents to the very best of my ability,’ she added.
However, senior SNP figures have been joining other parties in calling for Ms Sturgeon to be suspended from the party.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, former leadership contender Ash Regan said: ‘The Government needs to be completely focused on delivering public services and delivering for the people of Scotland in these difficult times.’
She said the probe into the party’s finances could be a ‘distraction’, adding: ‘I think that Nicola should perhaps consider voluntarily resigning her SNP membership until this can be cleared up.’
Resigning would ‘reaffirm (Ms Sturgeon’s) commitment to the principles of the party’, she added.
Asked if Ms Sturgeon should be suspended from the party, Ms Regan said her successor as SNP leader and First Minister, Humza Yousaf, may already be considering such a move, adding: ‘Accountability in these type of situations is really important.’
Ms Regan, speaking to Sky News later, suggested Ms Sturgeon was causing ‘damage’ to the SNP with her continued membership of the party.
‘The SNP has a code of conduct. One of the parts of that is members should be very careful with their conduct that they don’t cause damage to the party,’ she said.
‘My view is Nicola should be considering whether it would be the right thing to do for her commitment to the party and also for the smooth running of the government… for her to resign her party membership.’
SNP MP Angus MacNeil tweeted: ‘This soap opera has gone far enough, Nicola Sturgeon suspended others from the SNP for an awful lot less.
‘Time for political distance until the investigation ends either way.’
Scottish Conservatives chairman Craig Hoy said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon and other senior SNP figures – including Humza Yousaf – must co-operate fully with this police investigation and commit to full transparency surrounding it.
‘The SNP continue to be engulfed in murkiness and chaos. Humza Yousaf must now show some leadership and suspend his predecessor from the SNP.’
Media gathered outside Ms Sturgeon’s Glasgow home yesterday as she was questioned by officers
Police Scotland opened an investigation into the SNP’s finances in July 2021 after allegations that £600,000 raised for independence campaigning had been diverted elsewhere
Mr Yousaf is being urged to take action after his predecessor was subjected to around seven hours of questioning by police yesterday
Police opened an investigation into the SNP’s finances in July 2021 after allegations that £600,000 raised for a potential independence referendum campaign had been diverted elsewhere.
Concerns had first been raised by the former party treasurer, Douglas Chapman MP, who resigned from the role, claiming he did not have enough information to do the job.
SNP accounts from August 2021 showed the money was ‘earmarked’ through internal processes, though they did not officially record a separate sum.
It later emerged former Mr Murrell – Ms Sturgeon’s husband – had lent the party £100,000 in June 2021 to help with a ‘cash flow’ problem.
Mr Murrell and Colin Beattie MSP, former party treasurer, were arrested and released without charge pending further investigation, in April.
The home shared by Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon was one of the addresses raided by police alongside the party’s Edinburgh office.
There was no police presence at the property in Uddingston yesterday but a police vehicle occasionally drove past the house.
Members of the media were gathered outside the detached property, which appeared to be empty.
