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SNP treasurer Colin Beatty was arrested by police in connection with an ongoing investigation into the party’s finances.
On Tuesday morning, Scottish police revealed that SNP MSPs in Midlothian North and Musselburgh had been questioned by detectives.
In a statement, police said:
“A man has been taken into custody and is being questioned by a Scottish Police detective. A report will be sent to the Crown Office and the Public Prosecutor’s Financial Service.
“This matter is under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, so be careful when discussing it on social media.
“We are unable to comment further as the investigation is ongoing.”
A Scottish Police investigation into the SNP’s finances centers around allegations that more than £660,000 of funds raised by the party to fight the second Scottish independence referendum were instead spent on other things.
Beattie’s arrest comes less than two weeks after Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, was also arrested by police investigating SNP’s finances.
Murrell, who until recently was the party’s chief executive, was questioned by detectives for nearly 12 hours before being charged pending further investigation.
He was arrested on April 5 at the home he shared with Mr Sturgeon in Glasgow, after which the house was raided by police, who set up a forensic tent at the front door.
On the same day, police were also seen removing the boxes from the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh. It was later revealed that his £110,000 camper parked in the driveway of Mr Murrell’s mother’s house in Dunfermline had also been seized.
Beatty served as SNP’s treasurer for 16 years before losing an internal election to Douglas Chapman in 2020. He returned to the role when Mr. Chapman resigned a year later.
A former Midlothian Alderman, Mr Beattie was first elected as an SNP MSP in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections and has served in the same constituency ever since.
We reached out to SNP for comment.
Beatty’s arrest comes on the day that SNP’s new leader, Humza Yousaf, is scheduled to deliver a major speech at Holyrood announcing his policy agenda as prime minister.
The incident was already overshadowed by calls from Sturgeon’s SNP to stop it. leaked video indicated at the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in March 2021 that it downplayed financial concerns.
In the clip, the then-Prime Minister said the party “never was in a stronger financial position than it is now”, fearing it would put off potential donors and criticized speculation to the contrary. warned other senior SNP members not to