Operation Branchform: The story so far after a dire year for the SNP
Twelve months has passed since the UK awoke to the news former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell was placed under arrest and being quizzed by police over missing SNP party funds.Police Scotland arrived at the suburban residence of Nicola Sturgeon and her husband on the morning of 5 April 2023 and spent two days searched the property for evidence.
A blue forensic tent was erected in the front garden, a symbol of the accelerated intensity of the investigation into missing SNP donations raised for a second independence push that wouldnever materialise.
Vans loaded with evidence made multiple trips to and from the property during that time, until the tent was collapsed and the police tape cut down.
SNP offices in Edinburgh were raided by police on the same day, offering similarly striking images of a procession of officers carrying stacks of cardboard boxes into police vans.
Between April and June 2023, two more would be arrested: former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie;and Nicola Sturgeon, who vacated the office of First Minister just weeks before police first arrived at her door.
All three were arrested, questioned and released without charge pending further investigation.
Operation Branchform, a Police Scotland inquiry into more than £600,000 missing from SNP party donations, was launched in July 2021 but it took investigators more than 20 months to make their move.
Days after Peter Murrell’s arrest, a £100,000 luxury motorhome was seized from the driveway at his mother’s home.
Party insiders claimed plans were to use it as a campaign battle bus in the lead-up to the 2021 Scottish Election, but the pandemic prevented them from doing so.
The second year of pandemic restrictions also saw former party Treasurer Douglas Chapman and three more members of the SNP Finance & Audit Committee resign due to a lack of access to the party funds.
Then in December 2022, it emerged that a £107,000 SNP loan from Peter Murrell went unreported to the Electoral Commission for over a year, further muddying the already murky waters.
Two months later, Nicola Sturgeon would step down closely followed by her husband.
When she returned to the back benches of the Scottish Parliament following her arrest in June, Nicola Sturgeon told reporters “I respect and fully understand the process that is underway but I am absolutely certain that I have done nothing wrong.”
Speaking this week, First Minister Humza Yousaf said he was keen to see an end to the police investigation he acknowledged was “clearly” affecting the public perception of his party.
He told the BBC: “I think people will realise that all of us in the SNP would like to see a conclusion to Operation Branchform.”
“I think that’s stating the obvious but, of course, it’s up to Police Scotland to determine how long that takes and for them to have the space and time to investigate thoroughly and I don’t intend to interfere in that.”
Before departing from his role in August, former Chief Constable Iain Livingstone confirmed that the investigation had “moved beyond what some of the initial reports were”, but he was unwilling to put an “absolute timeframe” on the length of the investigation, instead assuring the public that it would be “proportionate and timeous”.
The three high-profile party arrests were only the start of a difficult year for Nicola Sturgeon’s replacement and opponents were quick to capitalise on the nationalists’ conveyor belt of misery.
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Two SNP defections to Alba and UK Conservatives followed on from a crushing by-election loss at the hands of Labour.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said their accounts showed “the SNP is a party in utter disarray” and Scottish Tory Chairman Craig Hoy said “if this farce wasn’t so serious it would be comical.”
In February this year, just as it emerged that SNP HQ staff were to be quizzed again by police, a freedom of information request revealed the investigation had cost Police Scotland upwards of £1.3 million.
The force confirmed that 20 people remained working on the Operation Branchform task force as of January: one Detective Chief Inspector; one Detective Inspector; three Detective Sergeants; 10 Detective Constables; and five support staff.
An SNP spokesperson responded to the FOI, saying: “Police Scotland is responsible for its expenditure and answers to the Scottish public but costs will obviously increase when the enquiry has been running as long as this.”
Yesterday, Scottish Conservative Chairman Craig Hoy commented on the lengthy investigation: “The fact that this investigation is still going on a year on from the arrest of Peter Murrell only confirms the seriousness of what the police are probing.
“Operation Branchform has been a major hit on Police Scotland’s already overstretched budget. This could have been avoided if the SNP had been upfront in the first place about their financial affairs.”
A year on from the first arrest, the investigation is ongoing and Police Scotland remains unable to comment further.