SNP could be liable to pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds to independence donors, says top lawyer
John Swinney has previously admitted the £660,000 donated for independence campaigning has been spent on the SNP’s ‘ongoing activities’
The SNP could be liable to pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds to its donors, according to one of Scotland’s top lawyers.
Legal action against the party is being led by Stuart Campbell from the blog Wings Over Scotland over how the party spent £660,000 of donations meant for independence campaigning.
However, First Minister John Swinney has recently admitted this money was spent on “ongoing activities” within the SNP rather than specifically on campaigning for a second independence referendum.
Roddy Dunlop KC, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, now says donors could be owed almost double what they originally gave to the party.
This comes just weeks after Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.
Mr Dunlop said: “[The] donations created a trust; the trust was deliberately and dishonestly breached; the donors retain a radical beneficial interest in the diverted funds and are entitled to repayment together with damages for the fraudulent breach.”
He added: “On or about June 3, 2026, the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, publicly confirmed that the ring-fenced referendum funds had been applied to ‘the ongoing activities of the Scottish National Party’.
“As I see it (and I can think of no other reasonable interpretation), this constitutes an unequivocal admission that the trust funds were diverted from their stated purpose.”
He said those who had donated could be able to claim all of their money back, plus interest.
Mr Dunlop said: “This would be significant. Compound interest at 8 per cent on payments made in March 2017 would mean a total interest rate of almost 100 per cent: i.e., for a payment of £1,000 paid then, £2,000 would now be repayable.”
The lawyer suggested donors might also be able to get compensation for “distress and inconvenience”.
This is despite Mr Swinney previously saying those who donated to the independence fundraisers would not be reimbursed.
Mr Dunlop said: “Whoever it was within the defender that authorised the payment of the ring-fenced funds for other purposes must, it can reasonably be inferred, have known that a, donors had contributed money on the express basis that it would be ring-fenced for a future independence referendum campaign, [and] b, the defender had publicly and repeatedly promised that the money would be so ring-fenced.”
He added: “A decision was taken to apply the ring-fenced funds to the defender’s general party activities - a purpose materially different from that for which the money was given.”
Mr Dunlop said: “There is no question of any mistake of fact. Whoever authorised the disbursement of funds knew exactly what the money was given for, and they knew that they were spending it on something else.”
Mr Campbell posted the eight-page legal opinion from Mr Dunlop on the Wings Over Scotland blog on Thursday evening and said he is seeking for more donors who “aren’t happy that your money was misappropriated”.
A spokeswoman for the SNP said: “These were issues which were fully explored during the course of the forensic police investigation - and which resulted in no action taken against the SNP.
“In the course of this complex and extensive police investigation, the criminal actions of Peter Murrell were uncovered and the SNP was found to be the victim of embezzlement.
“A small number of donors to this independence campaign requested refunds and all those making a legitimate request received a full refund.
“Anyone else who donated and wishes their money back can request a refund by contacting the SNP.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.