SNP finance committee members who quit over accounts break silence after Murrell sentencing

The three members of the SNP’s Finance and Audit Committee who resigned from their roles have broken their silence following the sentencing of Peter Murrell.  

The trio – Allison Graham, Cynthia Guthrie and Frank Ross – have confirmed they resigned from the committee after just six weeks over concerns over the party’s financial health and governance. 

They had been invited by the then party treasurer, Douglas Chapman, to supplement the committee by providing financial scrutiny and good governance, approval of the party's annual budget, and to assist the treasurer in discharging his fiduciary responsibilities and to address any identified or perceived problems to ensure confidence in the robustness of the party’s financial position ahead of the Holyrood election in 2021.  

Chapman himself resigned in May that year, claiming he had not been given access to the information he needed to do the job.

In a joint statement, the three said: “Over the past five years, our involvement and actions have been subject to significant misrepresentation and assumption by individuals who were not present and did not know the circumstances firsthand. Throughout that period, we chose not to speak publicly, even to confirm our resignations, despite considerable pressure from various quarters to do so.” 

An agreed joint statement was read to the National Executive Committee (NEC) on the day following their resignations by Graham, who was also an NEC member.

The trio said they did this to ensure the statement was heard by all members of the NEC, formally recorded in the minutes, and made accessible to the party’s external auditors.

The statement continues: “We hoped that some action would ensue within the party to follow up on our concerns. What followed the reading of our statement to the NEC was deeply concerning to all of us, yet in the aftermath Allison ensured that she informed the NEC that there were only three copies (the signatories), in addition to the copy she was emailing to the business convenor, to ensure we had fully discharged our responsibilities to the relevant party bodies.   

“During the subsequent five years of Operation Branchform, we felt unable to speak publicly, even to correct inaccuracies or defend ourselves against personal attacks, because we believed it was important not to compromise due legal process or impede the standards of what we all know good governance to be.

“With the judicial process now concluded, we are finally free to speak for ourselves. We would like to place on record our appreciation for the professionalism shown by Police Scotland throughout a lengthy and difficult high-profile investigation that required focus, objectivity, credible evidence, and institutional integrity. We hope there will now be a reflection on the unjustified attacks made against all those involved in carrying out and supporting the work that led to a guilty plea in this case.  

“We also note that, despite repeated accusations of ‘political motivation’ from some and intense pressure from many directions, our joint resignation statement to the NEC, and our individual resignation emails to the then party treasurer, were tendered objectively and with integrity, and were never ‘leaked’.”