A WESTMINSTER inquiry into the SNP’s finances would be a “political bloodbath rather than getting to the facts”, the party’s former treasurer has said.
Douglas Chapman, the former SNP MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, told the Through A Scottish Prism podcast that he believes questions should be asked about what an inquiry would “achieve”.
It comes as the Scottish Affairs Committee are set to discuss whether or not to go ahead with a probe on Tuesday.
It is the first time Chapman has spoken publicly about issues around the SNP finances in the wake of Peter Murrell’s embezzlement of more than £400,000 from the party.
Chapman took over the role of SNP treasurer from Colin Beattie in 2020, but quit in May 2021 claiming he had not been given enough information to do the job.
Beattie served in the role from 2004 until he was defeated in the 2020 SNP internal elections by Chapman, and took up the role again until he stepped down following his arrest in 2023. Beattie was not charged as part of Operation Branchform, the police investigation that led to Murrell’s arrest for embezzlement.
Speaking on the Through A Scottish Prism podcast, Chapman said he was “not in the same place” as other contributors who suggested there should be a probe.
“I think it's going to turn into some sort of political bloodbath, rather than actually getting to the facts,” he explained.
“Do we really want a parliamentary inquiry chaired by Andrew Bowie or Alex Cole-Hamilton or Murdo Fraser or Stephen Kerr?
“I'm just wondering, in terms of looking through the wrong end of the telescope on this, whether you know the question needs to be asked is what would that inquiry hope to achieve?
“I heard somebody saying the other day that if John Swinney was to, for example, say we're going to have a complete audit of the SNP’s accounts over the last five to 10 years, then that allows them then to say we are taking this seriously and looking at it.”
Noting that changes have been made to the SNP’s internal processes, he said that when he stood for election John Swinney, now SNP leader and First Minister, posted on X/Twitter that he had been “delighted” to cast his vote for Beattie, adding that his “hard work and sound stewardship of our finances have made our campaign successes possible”.
“I was absolutely delighted to win as national treasurer, but there was a, even at that point, a setting up the wagons, because they knew, I believe they knew anyway, that all was not well with the way that the finances were operating,” Chapman added.
“If you look at what's happened the other day, John Swinney said that there weren't adequate controls to stop Murrell’s thieving, and the systems in place should have been able to not [have] been abused the way they were by Peter Murrell.”
Chapman added that after 16 years of Beattie as treasurer, he appointed the “three attack dogs” to the audit committee. SNP officials Frank Ross, Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie would later quit the party’s finance and audit committee in March 2021, a few months before Chapman stood down, after being denied sight of the accounts.
“All the wrongdoing seemed to come to a halt at that point, and obviously came to a complete halt when the police started to investigate,” Chapman said.
“So I am not 100% sure what a parliamentary inquiry would achieve.
“I do not think that would be very good for the SNP, but my main concern as well is what impact is all this having on the independence movement, on the independence campaign, and does it actually detract from people's confidence in our future as an independent nation, because all this says, you know, if you can't run your own party, then how the earth are going to run the country?”
Chapman said the “ongoing comment” will make things more difficult for the independence cause and that the movement should “step up the rhetoric” by making a positive case for independence.
“And making sure that people realise that this is a passing thing,” he said in reference to the current issues facing the SNP.
“But the main thing is that we keep the independence movement on track and find other ways to actually get to the stage where we can have an independent country in charge of our own affairs.”
It comes as Scottish Labour are set to force a vote on whether the Scottish Parliament should hold an inquiry into the Murrell embezzlement scandal.
