Former SNP treasurer 'didn't know about motorhome'

The SNP's former treasurer has said he did not know that the party had bought a luxury motorhome.

Colin Beattie, who was in the role for a total of nearly 20 years, was asked by journalists whether he knew about and had signed off the purchase.

He replied: "No, I didn't know about that".

Mr Beattie quit as treasurer the day after he was arrested by police as part of an ongoing investigation into the party's finances.

He was subsequently released without charge pending further investigation.

The Niesmann and Bischoff vehicle, which can retail for more than £100,000, was seized by police from outside the home of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell's mother in Dunfermline.

The motorhome was removed on 5 April - the same morning that Mr Murrell became the first senior party figure to be arrested in the probe.

Mr Murrell, who is married to Nicola Sturgeon, was also released without charge pending further inquiry, with officers spending two days searching the couple's home in Glasgow. The SNP's headquarters in Edinburgh were also searched.

Newspaper reports quoted neighbours as saying the motorhome had sat on the driveway of the house since January 2021.

The Daily Record said it had been told by party sources that it was bought as a potential "battle bus" ahead of the last Scottish Parliament election in May of that year but was never used.

The party had generally hired vehicles to use during previous election campaigns.

Humza Yousaf, who succeeded Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader and first minister last month, has previously said he only learned about the motorhome after he won the leadership contest and saw a police warrant that gave details of items officers wanted to confiscate.

Mr Beattie served as the SNP's treasurer for 16 years before being defeated in an internal election by Douglas Chapman in 2020, but returned to the role when Mr Chapman resigned a year later.

Mr Chapman quit after saying he had "not received the support or financial information" that was needed to carry out his duties as treasurer.

Speaking to journalists as he returned to the Scottish Parliament for the first time since his arrest, Mr Beattie said the SNP was not in danger of going bust.

The MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh said: "The SNP is in the black. We're a going concern, definitely."

The leader of the SNP's Westminster group, Stephen Flynn, said on Monday that it could miss out on £1.2m in public funds if it fails to file its accounts by the 31 May deadline.

The party is having problems finding new auditors after the previous company resigned in September - although Mr Yousaf has said he did not find out the firm had quit until after he became party leader.

Senior figures in the Westminster group are said to be at loggerheads after former leader Ian Blackford accused his successor Mr Flynn of giving him false assurances about the group's auditors.

Mr Blackford told the BBC he had been told by Mr Flynn in a phone call on 7 April that the group had an auditor in place, but a senior SNP source disputed his version of events.

The source said a discussion had taken place "but no assurances were provided that this would be certain and would meet deadlines".

The BBC is unable to verify which account is accurate.

The party has still not found an auditor and senior figures have admitted that meeting the 31 May deadline will be "challenging".

Mr Yousaf is due to speak with SNP MPs on Tuesday afternoon as part of a visit to London that saw the new first minister meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the previous evening.

Police Scotland launched its Operation Branchform investigation in July 2021 after receiving complaints about how more than £600,000 of donations raised by activists for a future independence referendum campaign were spent.

Questions were raised after accounts showed the SNP had just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019, and total net assets of about £272,000.

Last year it emerged that Peter Murrell gave a loan of more than £100,000 to the SNP to help it out with a "cash flow" issue after the last election.