The husband of former Scottish chief Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested as a part of an investigation into the funding of the governing pro-independence Scottish Nationwide Social gathering, the BBC says.
Police Scotland mentioned on Wednesday a 58-year-old man had been “arrested as a suspect” and its officers had been finishing up searches at various addresses linked to the investigation.
Peter Murrell, 58, who stood down because the chief govt of the governing pro-independence celebration final month, was taken into police custody on Wednesday morning, the BBC mentioned.
Police Scotland mentioned they had been finishing up searches at various addresses as a part of the investigation.
A marked police van may very well be seen outdoors the couple’s residence in Glasgow, which was sealed off with blue and white police tape, and a blue tent had additionally been put up outdoors.
“The person is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives,” the police mentioned.
The police investigation is taking a look at what occurred to greater than £600,000 kilos ($1.1 million) raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017, which was imagined to have been ring-fenced for spending on that situation however was lacking from the celebration’s filed accounts.
The SNP mentioned it could not be acceptable to touch upon any dwell police investigation however the celebration has been co-operating with the probe.
The Scottish authorities mentioned it was a matter for the celebration.
The arrest and ongoing investigation comes after a bruising few months for the SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics for a lot of the previous 20 years.
Mr Murrell, who had run the SNP for greater than 20 years, resigned final month after accepting blame for deceptive the general public a couple of plunge within the variety of celebration members.
Ms Sturgeon additionally stood down because the chief of Scotland’s semi-autonomous authorities final month after eight years in energy, saying she had grow to be too divisive to guide the nation to independence.
Her successor as prime minister, Humza Yousaf, narrowly gained a bitterly-fought management contest which uncovered deep divisions over find out how to obtain independence and different coverage points.
The SNP mentioned its governing physique had agreed at a gathering on Saturday to a evaluation of the celebration’s governance and transparency which might be taken ahead within the coming weeks.
In a referendum in 2014, Scots rejected ending the more-than-300-year-old union with England by 55 p.c to 45 p.c.
Britain’s vote to depart the European Union two years later when a majority of Scots wished to remain, and Scotland’s dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic introduced new help for independence.
