Call for Holyrood and Westminster to hold joint inquiry into Murrell crimes

The UK and Scottish parliaments should clasp a associated enquiry into Peter Murrell's fiscal crimes, erstwhile Labour archetypal curate Jack McConnell has said.

Murrell, the ex-SNP main enforcement and estranged hubby of Nicola Sturgeon, pleaded blameworthy past week to embezzling much than £400,000 from the enactment implicit 12 years.

Lord McConnell called for Westminster's Public Accounts Committee and Holyrood's Public Audit Committee to look into the ungraded together.

It came aft Sturgeon, speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, denied covering up problems successful the party's finances oregon having immoderate cognition oregon Murrell's wrongdoing.

McConnell, who was archetypal curate from 2001 until 2007, told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast helium "would similar to spot the 2 parliaments coming together" to analyse the embezzlement.

The adjacent said a standalone Holyrood enquiry mightiness beryllium seen arsenic presiding implicit a "cover up", portion a Westminster 1 mightiness beryllium perceived arsenic carrying retired "a hatchet job" connected the SNP.

Lord McConnell said a associated probe should look into whether the narration betwixt Scotland's prosecution work – the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) – and politicians successful the Scottish authorities had go excessively close.

He besides said it should analyse whether nationalist funds provided to the SNP astatine Westminster were progressive successful the embezzlement and whether safeguards should beryllium introduced for tiny donors to governmental parties and movements.

"Let's get to the bottommost of this and let's guarantee that governmental parties and governmental movements successful the aboriginal and possibly besides the governance of Scotland successful narration to the ineligible strategy are protected successful the interests of the public," helium said.

Opposition MSPs raised concerns astir the relation of Scotland's apical instrumentality officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, aft it emerged she told First Minister John Swinney details astir Murrell's complaint astir a twelvemonth earlier they became public.

Bain - who has a dual relation arsenic caput of the prosecution work and the government's main ineligible advisor - defended her conduct, saying she had nary relation successful the prosecution and that the disclosure to Swinney was modular signifier successful high-profile cases.

It is not wide however a associated enquiry would enactment successful signifier arsenic determination has ne'er been 1 successful the 27 years since the devolved Scottish Parliament opened.

First Minister John Swinney has antecedently rejected calls for immoderate parliamentary inquiry, arguing that his enactment has improved its governance and oversight, and that an enquiry would adhd thing to a lengthy and elaborate constabulary investigation.

He has besides denied that immoderate nationalist funds from the UK Parliament were progressive successful the embezzlement, and stressed that the prosecution work acts independently of government.

Lord McConnell said Swinney's absorption to an enquiry was a "big mistake", accusing the SNP enactment of "digging their heels in".

He urged Swinney to "reflect" that a associated enquiry could beryllium successful the nationalist involvement and possibly successful the enactment involvement too.

Critics person accused Swinney and Sturgeon of shutting down concerns astir SNP finances.

Ex-MP Joanna Cherry, who besides discontinue the SNP ruling assemblage successful 2021 owed to a deficiency of transparency, has precocious claimed concerns were not listened to by enactment leaders.

Sturgeon told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: "I cull wholly the conception that radical were trying to alert the enactment to the benignant of behaviour that Peter pled blameworthy to connected Monday."

Swinney said past week that helium was not "not conscious" of having unopen down concerns astir enactment finances.

Rejecting calls for a Holyrood inquiry, helium said "we cognize precisely what happened" successful the Murrell case.

The archetypal curate told the BBC: "You can't really get a modular of probe immoderate higher successful Scotland than a forensic constabulary probe that results successful a palmy precocious tribunal prosecution and a blameworthy plea."

The erstwhile archetypal minister, who was jointly liable for approving SNP accounts during her 8 years successful complaint of the party, told the BBC: "The thought determination was thing successful the accounts that would person alerted maine to what Peter pleaded blameworthy to is perfectly fundamentally untrue.

"If determination had been, I fishy the constabulary and the Crown Office mightiness person reached a antithetic presumption connected me."

The erstwhile archetypal curate announced past year that her matrimony was Murrell was ending aft astir 15 years.

Murrell is owed to beryllium sentenced aboriginal this month.

Responding to McConnell, a COPFS spokesperson said: "Professional prosecutors from COPFS and autarkic counsel dealt with this lawsuit without involving the lord advocator oregon solicitor general. All Scotland's prosecutors run independently of governmental influence.

"Communications from the lord advocate's bureau to the bureau of the archetypal minister's bureau person been explained to the Scottish Parliament."