The Branchform operation included the arrests of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, former SNP chief executive Peter Murell and former party treasurer Colin Beattie, who were all released without charge. The largest police operation in Scotland had a simple goal – to find out what happened to the 666,953 pounds of money that had been donated by SNP members, but which allegedly just disappeared.
All three were released without charge pending further investigation. Sturgeon strongly denied any wrongdoing, releasing a statement immediately after her arrest that read:
“I know for a fact that I am innocent of any wrongdoing.”
The money was transferred to fight another referendum on independence. But that vote did not take place (it was unlikely because it would have been illegal without UK approval, as the Supreme Court had ruled).
But when questioned about where the money allocated for this went, Ms. Sturgeon brushed aside senior party figures and assured them that “the finances are absolutely fine.”
So since July 2021, Police Scotland has been investigating how the SNP handled more than £600,000 in donations raised in 2017 for the second independence referendum.
Supporters complained when reports filed with Companies House in 2020 showed that the SNP had only £97,000 in the bank, despite the referendum never being held.
Officers searched Ms. Sturgeon and Mr. Murrell’s home for two days, pitching a large white tent in their garden.
Ms. Sturgeon later voluntarily visited a police station where she was questioned for over seven hours. She has rejected calls to resign as SNP leader pending the outcome of the investigation, arguing that this undermines her claims of innocence.
Ms. Sturgeon insisted:
“Innocence is not just a presumption to which I am entitled under the law. I know for a fact that I am innocent of any wrongdoing.”
As it turned out later, the investigation into the finances of the Scottish Police cost taxpayers more than 800,000 pounds and has now lasted more than 2.5 years.
Ian Livingstone, former Chief Constable of the Scottish Police, defends the length of the investigation and rejects claims of political motivation. He argues that it is impossible to predict when the police investigation into the finances of the Scottish National Party will be completed and added: “The sooner this investigation is concluded, the better for everyone involved.”
The Chief Constable insisted that the more than two years already spent on the Branchform operation were “entirely legal” while “vehemently” rejecting any suggestion that it was politically motivated.
In his last interview before his resignation, he said:
“I would have been rightly criticized if I had not conducted this investigation with the thoroughness that we have done… Scottish ministers, all politicians, recognize that the police service must be allowed to act independently and to act in the interests of justice.”
He also insisted that the erection of a forensic tent in Sturgeon’s garden during the search of her home was proportionate and necessary.
Allies, including former SNP communications director Murray Foote, challenged the police investigation. Foote said he did not believe it would lead to any charges and described the tenting as a “grotesque circus.”
Left in the dark
Neither Police Scotland, nor the Crown Office, nor the country’s main prosecuting authority, nor the Chief Executive of Scotland, have offered the public even a little guidance as to what is going on. No one really expects any ongoing commentary on this complex investigation. After all, as is often the case in Scotland, there is a complete veil of secrecy over this issue.
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