Senior SNP figures were accused of adopting “the tactics of organised crime” as a Holyrood debate on Scottish independence descended into renewed rows over the fallout from Peter Murrell’s guilty plea over party finances.
The clash came a day after Murrell, the former SNP chief executive and estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, admitted yesterday to embezzling more than £400,000 from SNP funds over a 12-year period.
During the first major parliamentary debate of the new Holyrood term, First Minister John Swinney placed independence at the centre of his programme for government, arguing Scotland would “resoundingly” back independence if given the chance to vote again.
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However, opposition parties accused the SNP of focusing on constitutional issues while questions remained over the impact of the Murrell scandal.
Mr Findlay criticised Mr Swinney for choosing to debate independence a day after Murrell was jailed for embezzling SNP funds.
Mr Findlay declared: “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.”
The Tory added: “Today of all days, John Swinney reckons the SNP can be trusted to take full control of an independent Scotland and our nation’s finances.”
Mr Findlay also targeted senior SNP figures' handling of earlier concerns around party finances.
He said: “In 2021, John Swinney went onto 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 repeatedly said no comment. The tactics of organised crime.”
He later accused the First Minister of focusing on constitutional questions instead of public services.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “He’s holding Scotland back. Stuck in the grip of constitutional paralysis.”
Speaking during the debate, Mr Swinney argued that independence would create “greater prosperity” by allowing Scotland control over energy resources and enabling the country to rejoin the European Union.
The First Minister told MSPs: “Together, these offer Scotland a golden opportunity, and it is one that I believe people will vote for resoundingly when our nation has, once again, the ability to decide our own future in an independence referendum.”
Although he acknowledged “Westminster currently says no” to another vote, Mr Swinney described the debate as “the start of a process” which he believed would eventually lead to a referendum and a vote for independence.
He also described independence as being the “fresh start Scotland so badly needs”.
His comments came as he outlined broader priorities for the new parliamentary term, including economic growth, improvements to the NHS and action on child poverty, which he described as “morally wrong”.
But opposition leaders criticised the Government for devoting the first major debate of the new parliamentary session to independence.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “If you look at the balance of the motion we’re being asked to vote on today, it’s overwhelmingly about one issue and one issue alone, and that is the SNP First Minister’s only ambition and all the obsession, and that is the issue of independence, and I think that is a missed opportunity in this first debate of this new Parliament.”
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “This is a microcosm of the inadequacies of this SNP Government, taking time for parliamentary debates like this does nothing to save our constituents.
“No wonder they do not have the attention or the trust in this parliament that they used to.”
Reform Scotland leader Malcolm Offord also criticised the focus on independence.
He said: “Why does the SNP indulge itself by continually debating matters reserved to Westminster?
“It’s something called a deflection strategy because they don’t want to focus on the track record of what they’ve done in their day job.”
The Scottish Greens backed the First Minister’s position, with co-leader Ross Greer saying independence remained “the best choice for Scotland, not as an end, but as a means to a greater end.”
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