Keir Starmer: SNP’s refusal to hold inquiry into Murrell scandal is ‘totally the wrong approach’

Keir Starmer has said the SNP’s refusal to back a parliamentary inquiry into the Peter Murrell scandal is “totally the wrong approach”.  

Scottish Tory MP John Lamont raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions and said “serious questions about governance and oversight remain unanswered”.

He asked whether a UK inquiry could be set up, “so we can uncover the truth”.  

Lamont said the law allowed for UK inquiries into devolved matters where there is a wider public interest.

Starmer said: “On this question, it is a serious set of questions that need to be answered by the SNP and the [Scottish] Government.

“And they simply refuse to do so. They call for transparency and accountability for everybody else – when they have giant questions of their own to answer, nothing to see here.”

The Scottish Parliament has already voted on whether to hold a parliamentary inquiry to establish the facts surrounding how Murrell was able to embezzle over £400,000 of SNP funds over a 12-year period between 2010 and 2022, with the SNP and Scottish Greens voting down a Labour motion.  

The Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster is exploring how much it would cost to hold an inquiry into Murrell, with Labour, Lib Dem and Tory members in favour.