Swinney suggests lack of 'adequate controls' helped Peter Murrell to cover his tracks in SNP embezzlement
The SNP leader has warned there were a lack of “adequate controls” within the party at the time Peter Murrell was able to embezzle £400,000 of party funds
John Swinney has admitted a lack of “adequate controls” within the SNP helped Peter Murrell cover his tracks in embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from party finances.
The SNP leader spoke after Murrell appeared in court for a further hearing after admitting embezzling more than £400,000 of SNP funds to pay for lavish items, two cars and a motorhome, as well as falsely claiming expenses.
Speaking at Holyrood, Mr Swinney said he wanted to “express my horror at the contents of the material that has been set out” in court.
He said: “It is clear that there has been a colossal breach of trust and a systematic series of criminal actions by Peter Murrell.
“That has been delivered by him by the deceit that he’s perpetrated, by the falsification of information, the falsification of invoices. All of that information has been conveyed to the court this morning.
“It demonstrates exactly why this crime has been able to be perpetrated and why all of the normal safeguards that should work in these circumstances, were not successful in that respect.”
Mr Swinney stressed that under his leadership, he has “strengthened the governance of the Scottish National Party so that members of the party are able to freely and openly express their views”.
The SNP leader added: “I’ve put in place the strongest level of financial control and financial assurance that I think is required and that there is openness and transparency about the consideration of all financial items that are considered by the party.”
Asked why Murrell was able to sign off his own expenses, Mr Swinney said: “I think what has been demonstrated here is that there’s not been, in every respect, adequate controls in place at that particular moment.”
Pressed whether this showed a lack of leadership, Mr Swinney added: “The systems that were in place should not have been able to be abused but they were. And that’s the issue that we have addressed.
“I’m satisfied that all of those controls are in place at this particular time.”
The First Minister told journalists that following reforms he introduced, “any invoice, any payment in the SNP, has got to be seen by three pairs of eyes - the head of finance, the chief executive and the national treasurer”.
“There are clear controls in place there,” he said. “And that’s before anything gets presented to the National Executive Committee.”
Mr Swinney said: “The national treasurer has also been directly empowered by me to scrutinise whatever he wishes.
“The chief executive of the party...is also empowered to scrutinise whatever he wishes to scrutinise and has to provide assurance to the business convener about all of these issues.
“The national treasurer has direct access to me to raise any issues of concern that require scrutiny.
“All of that financial information is openly shared with the National Executive Committee and is scrutinised.”
Mr Swinney highlighted that “systems were circumvented through falsification of invoices” by Murrell as part of his criminal actions.
“That was deliberately to disguise - these are all steps to deceive”, he added.
But Mr Swinney repeated his opposition to an independent investigation to be held into the scandal.
“I don’t think there’s a case for that”, he said.
“We’ve actually had a thorough and comprehensive police investigation that’s lasted for many years.
“The legal processes have taken their course. The legal process has worked.”
Meanwhile, a row erupted at Holyrood over claims by Scottish Labour sources that the presiding officer, Kenneth Gibson, refused any questions in Tuesday’s backbencher FMQs about the Murrell scandal, claiming he was “bored” of the topic and reportedly telling MSPs that party leaders would have the opportunity to ask questions about the issue on Thursday.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, Scottish Labour leader Jackie Baillie, said she “tried to ask a question today in the chamber” about the Murrell scandal.
She added: “Unfortunately I didn’t have that opportunity.”
The Scottish Parliament has bene approached for comment.
Dame Jackie pointed to the narrative stating that Murrell “gave instructions to his legal representatives to explore the possibility of resolution of the case by way of a plea of guilty” on March 3.
But the narrative adds that due to the “nature of the indictment”, discussions took “some time and continued until just prior to the case calling in 25 May 2026”.
Dame Jackie said Murrell’s indicated guilty plea was “well in advance of the Scottish Parliament elections”.
She added: “That’s precisely why we need a parliamentary inquiry - to get to the bottom of these questions as to why, for example, the whole court case was delayed, if there was any evidence of misconduct in public office, if people in positions of power in the government or parliament, knew or had any suspicions of wrongdoing, did they come forward?
“All of these issues matter for a parliamentary inquiry. I really don’t understand if the SNP and John Swinney have nothing to hide and nothing to fear, why they won’t have a parliamentary inquiry. “
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said the selection of questions is a matter for the Presiding Officer.
As Murrell headed to the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning, former first minister Jack McConnell described the embezzlement scandal as “embarrassing internationally” for Scotland.
Lord McConnell said some politicians have been “too defensive” on the scandal over the past week, and reiterated his call for there to be a joint Westminster-Holyrood inquiry into the matter.
Speaking at the Scotland 2050 conference in Edinburgh, which was sponsored by The Scotsman, Lord McConnell said: “On John [Swinney’s] position, I understand, believe me I understand, the expected reaction is to be defensive in these kinds of situations. I was through a lot of them over the years.
“But I do think there are times when you need to set that aside and think about how this is coming across.
“This is embarrassing internationally for us now, and we need to take it seriously.
“The point here is the reputation of Scotland globally, and I would welcome a bit of rethinking at this time.”
He believes Westminster and Holyrood should work together on a parliamentary inquiry into the Murrell scandal, and said Presiding Officer Kenny Gibson and Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle should get together to discuss how this would work.