Operation Branchform

Fundraising for a proposed second Scottish independence referendum by the SNP began in 2017. A snap general election then took place that year. A Labour Party Member of the Scottish Parliament, James Kelly, asked the Electoral Commission to investigate whether the SNP had spent this money on campaigning in the general election. The SNP denied this, saying the money raised was ring-fenced for a future referendum campaign.[6]

A second fundraiser followed in April 2019.[7] This fundraiser also claimed to be ring-fencing donations for a specific purpose, saying "Our plan is to distribute An Independent Scotland: Household Guide to every household – all 2,460,000 of them! To achieve that, I am asking you to join me in making a donation to this specific project".[8]

In January 2020, the pro-independence blogger Stuart Campbell, through his website Wings Over Scotland, claimed that the SNP's published accounts for 2018 did not contain enough money to cover the ring-fenced sums that were said to have been raised.[9]

In October 2020, the Electoral Commission published the SNP's 2019 accounts. These did not list the referendum campaign funds separately and showed that the money the SNP had to hand, around £97,000, was again much less than the amount that was said to be ring-fenced. The SNP's then treasurer, Colin Beattie, emailed SNP donors regarding allegations that the referendum campaign fund had already been spent. Beatty insisted that there was £593,501 in the "Referendum Appeal Fund" that was ready to be deployed "instantaneously", and that the SNP did not separate restricted funds from the rest of the annual accounts. Beatty claimed that the donations were "woven through" the income figures for that year.[10]

In the 2020 SNP internal elections, Douglas Chapman was elected as SNP National Treasurer, replacing Beattie.

On 20 March 2021, three members of the SNP's Finance and Audit Committee (Cllr Frank Ross, Cynthia Guthrie and Allison Graham) resigned over a lack of access to party accounts.[11] As a result, political activist Sean Clerkin made a complaint to Police Scotland about the allegedly missing funds in March 2021.[12]

In May 2021, Douglas Chapman also resigned as SNP National Treasurer, saying he "had not received the support or financial information required to carry out the fiduciary duties of National Treasurer".[13][14] Nicola Sturgeon, Murrell's wife and then party leader, took over as acting treasurer, with Electoral Commission rules requiring someone to be in the post at all times.[15] MP Joanna Cherry then resigned from the NEC later that month, saying on Twitter, "A number of factors have prevented me from fulfilling the mandate party members gave me to improve transparency & scrutiny & to uphold the party’s constitution. I won’t be making any further comment at this stage".[16]

Beattie was re-appointed as Treasurer in June 2021.[17] After a SNP NEC meeting that month, Beattie said £666,953 had been raised through referendum-related fundraisers from 2017 to 2020, and that £51,760 had been spent directly on campaigning for another referendum. He said funds were "earmarked" for that purpose, and "amounts equivalent to the sums raised" would be spent on "the intended purpose".[18]

The police investigation was launched in July 2021 following seven complaints.[3][19]

In August 2021, Sturgeon told a meeting of the party’s NEC that, "We don’t need to talk about the finances. The finances are absolutely fine".[20]

In 2022, a peer-review of the operation was conducted by the National Crime Agency, which the police described as normal "good practice".[21]

In December 2022, Wings Over Scotland reported that a loan of £107,620 made to the SNP in June 2021 had come from the party's then-CEO Peter Murrell,[22] and that the Electoral Commission had not been informed until over a year later, in August 2022,[23][12] despite this being a breach of the Commission's reporting rules.[24] The stated reason for the loan was to assist with the party's cash-flow after the Scottish Parliament election in May 2021, although by April 2023 the majority of the loan had not been repaid, with £60,000 still outstanding.[25]

In February 2023, it was reported that the police planned to speak to key witnesses within the party.[26] Former party treasurer Douglas Chapman, as well as several other former officials from the party’s governing body, were subsequently reported to have been contacted by police in the days before Nicola Sturgeon announced her intention to resign as First Minister.[27] In the same period, there were calls for Murrell to stand down because of the investigation into the loan he had made to the SNP.[28]

During the 2023 SNP leadership election, a dispute over membership numbers prompted the resignation of Murray Foote as the party's media chief. Foote had previously been reassured by Peter Murrell that reports that the SNP's membership had dropped by 30,000 were false, and had described such allegations as "inaccurate drivel" to the press.[29] Murrell was subsequently blamed by the SNP national executive committee for giving Foote misleading figures, and he resigned as SNP Chief Executive "with immediate effect" on 18 March 2023 ahead of a vote of no-confidence.[30]

On 5 April 2023, Murrell, by this time no longer the SNP's chief executive, was arrested by Police Scotland in connection with the investigation, with the police saying they were conducting searches at a number of addresses. The police searched Murrell and Sturgeon's private residence in Glasgow, including the garden, and also searched and removed documentation from the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh.[31][32] After questioning, Murrell was released without charge pending further investigation.[33] A Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome, with a sales cost of around £110,000, was subsequently seized from the home of Peter Murrell's mother in Fife as part of the investigation.[34][35] Beattie said he did not know about the purchase of the motorhome at the time.[36]

The police's tactics in their search of Sturgeon and Murrell's home, especially the erection of a forensic tent over the front door, were questioned by Scottish Nationalists. Noel Dolan, a former special adviser to Nicola Sturgeon, said: "I believe the police behaviour in the use of tents outside and invading the former First Minister's home has been very heavy handed. It was completely over the top." Dolan called for the issue of police powers to be raised in the Scottish Parliament. His comments were criticised by Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, as "based on theory rather than fact". Police Scotland declined to comment on an ongoing investigation.[37]

It was announced in early April, after Murrell's arrest, that accountants Johnston Carmichael had resigned from auditing the SNP’s finances (both for the central party and the Westminster Parliamentary group), after over a decade working with the party.[38] It later emerged that they had done so "around October" 2022, according to Humza Yousaf, the new leader of the SNP, who also said he was unaware that the party was without auditors until he took office.[39] The news of their departure was kept from the party’s NEC.[40] Over £1 million of Short Money, public funds payable to the SNP group in Parliament, was at risk if the SNP did not produce audited accounts for their Westminster Group by 31 May 2023.[41] It was announced on 3 May 2023 that the SNP had appointed new auditors, the AMS Accountants Group in Manchester, over six months after the previous auditors had resigned.[42] The SNP Westminster Group ultimately submitted their audited accounts before the 31 May 2023 deadline.[43]

Legal costs from the investigation were reported to have contributed to the SNP having financial difficulties by April 2023.[44]

On 18 April 2023, Colin Beattie was arrested in connection with the investigation.[45] He was released without charge pending further investigation later the same day.[46] He resigned as party treasurer the next day.[47] MP Stuart McDonald was appointed as the new treasurer.[48]

In May 2023, Murray Foote, previously SNP media chief, openly denounced the conduct of the Police Scotland investigation, saying that the possibility that Branchform is a "wild goose chase" should be considered, and warning of "serious consequences for the investigating authorities" should no charges be brought. Foote also denounced the search of Sturgeon and Murrell's home: "The use of forensic tents and a whole platoon of plod at the house turned a routine process into a grotesque circus, compounded by the storming of SNP HQ."[49] Foote also insisted on Peter Murrell's innocence: "First minister Sturgeon and her husband lived under crushingly intense scrutiny. It is inconceivable to me that Peter would so much as consider doing something dodgy lest it rebound and put his wife in jeopardy."[50]

Sir Iain Livingstone, then Chief Constable of Police Scotland, defended the investigation at a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority on 25 May 2023, saying that; "A diligent, thorough and proportionate criminal inquiry is being conducted with integrity. I have previously asserted and will reassert today that I would fiercely resist any attempt to bring political pressure to my decision making or upon any police operation."[51]

Sturgeon was arrested on 11 June 2023. Later that day, she was released without charge.[52] Some SNP politicians, including Ash Regan MSP, called for Sturgeon to be suspended from the party, but new leader Humza Yousaf said he would not suspend her as she had not been charged.[53]

By the end of June, the SNP was reported to be ready to submit audited accounts to the Electoral Commission ahead of a deadline of 7 July. However, the party's Manchester-based auditors, AMS Accountants Group, qualified their audit of the accounts owing to missing documentation related to membership, donations, and raffle income for the period of 2021-2022. The SNP insisted that this was due to "administrative processes", and that "there is no suggestion that the accounts do not present an accurate picture of the party’s financial position."[54]

In July, the police said the operation had grown beyond the initial allegation of fraud[55] and would now look at potential embezzlement and the misuse of funds.[56] That month, the outgoing Chief Constable, Sir Iain Livingstone, re-iterated his defence of the investigation, telling the BBC's Today programme that the time taken was proportionate to the allegations of fraud and embezzlement because of the need to obtain information from banks and other financial institutions. Addressing allegations that the search of Sturgeon and Murrell's house was heavy-handed, Livingstone described the search as proportionate to the circumstances, and specifically addressed the forensic tent: "The tent was there, as were all the other measures, to protect the interests of justice and to protect the individuals involved."[57]

In August 2023, Murray Foote was appointed chief executive of the SNP.[58] In view of Foote's previous comments on Operation Branchform, both the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Conservatives called on the SNP to give new assurance that it would continue to co-operate with the police inquiry.[59] Speaking to the Daily Record, SNP leader and First Minister Humza Yousaf rejected Foote's past comments on the investigation and re-iterated that the party would cooperate fully with the police.[60]

In late August 2023, Police Scotland confirmed that they were assessing a complaint referred to them by Greater Manchester Police. This complaint alleges that the SNP recorded unregistered cash gifts as money brought in by fundraising to conceal a "cash for seats" operation, whereby donors were prioritised for selection for elected seats.[61]