Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has promised full co-operation with police after her husband Peter Murrell was arrested in connection with an ongoing inquiry into the alleged breach of Covid-19 regulations. The arrest has caused shockwaves in Scottish politics and led to calls for transparency and accountability from the Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership. In this article, we will examine the circumstances surrounding Murrell’s arrest, the potential implications for Sturgeon and the SNP, and the wider political fallout from the scandal.
Scotland’s former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has pledged to “fully co-operate” with police after the recent arrest of her husband, Peter Murrell, who was the Scottish National Party’s former chief executive. Speaking publicly for the first time since Murrell’s arrest, Sturgeon admitted that recent days had been “obviously difficult” in a brief statement outside the couple’s Glasgow home, which police had raided three days earlier. However, Sturgeon could not comment on the ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities over £600,000 in party spending earmarked for the Scottish independence campaign, “as much as there are things I may want to say”. Scotland’s former SNP leader also declined to comment on whether detectives had indicated that they wished to question her.
Murrell (58) was released without charge pending further investigations on Wednesday evening after police searched his and Sturgeon’s home for over a day, while simultaneously carrying out searches at SNP headquarters in Edinburgh. The SNP president, Mike Russell, admitted that the party is now facing its biggest crisis in 50 years, and conceded that he does not believe that independence can be achieved “right now”.
Sturgeon, who resigned from her position as SNP leader in February, said that she understood the scrutiny on her as a public figure, but added that she is “also entitled to a little bit of privacy in my own home”. The former first minister stressed that, despite the ongoing investigation, she still intended to “get on” with her life and job, as would be expected of her.
