SNP facing financial oblivion as Sturgeon under pressure to QUIT parliament
The SNP are thought to be facing a financial crisis
PA
The SNP has been forced to deny claims it is on the brink of financial disaster after the party's own treasurer warned it was "close to bankruptcy".
In a stark warning to the SNP's National Executive Committee (NEC) over the weekend, Colin Beattie said that a collapse in the size of the membership, a drop in donations and rising legal costs linked to the police investigation was taking its toll.
Police are in the middle of an inquiry into £600,000 of SNP funds which appeared to go missing while Nicola Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, was chief executive of the party.
Beattie warned the party's most senior members on Saturday: "We need to find money to keep the party going forward or we’ll keep cutting our tail until there’s nothing left."
Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell have both faced fresh pressure over the weekend
PAIn a bid to reassure members, the SNP's former Westminster leader Ian Blackford said yesterday that the party’s finances are in "robust health".
"Absolutely, categorically, the SNP is solvent, the finances are in balance," he told the BBC.
"We will be able to meet our obligations, our liabilities going forward.
"Everybody knows there has been a dip in SNP membership.
"I’d like to think that we can grow the membership over the course of the coming period, but when all is said and done, we’ve still got over 70,000 members – members that are paying subscriptions – donations coming in, parliamentarians making contributions.
"As would be normal, we’d be looking at how we can raise additional funds as well."
Sturgeon and her husband are are facing demands to quit the SNP after being accused of leaving the party in financial disaster.
Fresh pressure was placed on the power-couple over the weekend after it emerged that the former First Minister had attempted to quash claims of financial problems in the party in 2021.
In a leaked clip of a video from March of that year, Sturgeon told the NEC that the party’s finances “have never been stronger”.
Nicola Sturgeon is now under pressure to stand down as an MSP earlier than planned
PAShe warned them to be “careful” about suggestions that “there are problems with the party’s finances because we depend on donors to donate”.
Sturgeon had planned to stay on as an MSP until at least the 2026 election, but is now facing calls to qo early.
Meanwhile, her replacement as SNP leader Humza Yousaf has been pressed to suspend the membership of both Sturgeon and Murrell while the police continue their investigation.
A senior SNP source told the Telegraph: "At the end of the day, the chief executive reported to Nicola. I don’t see the advantages to her in staying.
"This pantomime will just run and run, and it will make life in the Parliament very uncomfortable for her.
“It won’t matter if she’s making a speech about potholes in Govan – the opposition will drag all this up any chance they get. There is a growing suspicion now that she will be stepping down sooner rather than later. Her whole reputation now is in tatters."