Scottish National Party in turmoil after Nicola Sturgeon arrest

LONDON — Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf rebuffed calls to suspend his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon from the ruling Scottish National Party after she was questioned by police.

Sturgeon was arrested and then released without charge pending further investigation Sunday amid a Police Scotland probe into the SNP’s funding and finances. She has described herself as “innocent of any wrongdoing.”

But the arrest has further highlighted deep splits in the SNP as Yousaf, who succeeded Sturgeon at the top of the party and Scottish government after a bruising leadership contest earlier this year, battles to escape the shadow of the police probe.

High-profile SNP lawmakers on Monday followed Scottish opposition parties in calling for Yousaf to suspend Sturgeon’s membership of the SNP, which she continues to represent as a member of the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood.

Ash Regan, who ran against Yousaf in the leadership election triggered by Sturgeon’s resignation in February, told the BBC that Yousaf “should consider” suspending his predecessor if she doesn’t voluntarily resign.

“There is precedence in the party for people involved in issues of this type to resign from the party voluntarily and suspend their membership until it is cleared up … I think Humza should consider [suspending her] under those circumstances, yes, if she doesn’t resign,” Regan told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland.

Two other SNP lawmakers made the same call, while both the opposition Conservative and Labour parties accused Yousaf of being “weak” for failing to suspend her.

But, speaking to broadcasters Monday lunchtime, Yousaf made clear he would ignore those calls.

“I’ll not suspend Nicola’s membership,” Yousaf told the BBC. “I’ll treat her in the same way I’ve treated, for example, [former SNP treasurer] Colin Beattie.”

“Those that have been released without charge I see no reason to suspend their membership,” he added.

Police Scotland launched their inquiry in 2021 after complaints were made about the SNP’s use of a £600,000-plus fund raised by activists which was intended to be ring-fenced for campaigning toward Scottish independence.

Sturgeon’s husband, the former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell, was arrested in April, while the SNP’s then-treasurer Colin Beattie was arrested two weeks later. Both men were also released without charge pending further investigation, and both have held on to their SNP membership.

Factional battle

Reactions to Sturgeon’s arrest and release have so far fallen along factional lines in a party already contending with a long-running feud between Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond, as well as major questions over its strategy for achieving independence for Scotland.

Loyalists to Sturgeon either stayed quiet or reiterated their support for the former first minister following Sunday’s events. But those calling for her suspension did not hold back.

Regan finished third in the SNP leadership contest which took place in the spring, behind the former Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and Yousaf.

In that contest, Yousaf — a close ally of Sturgeon — narrowly triumphed having pledged to continue her work.

Forbes, on the other hand, attracted significant support with her message that “continuity won’t cut it.” Regan also ran as a critic of Sturgeon, and is advised by figures known to be close to Salmond.

Long-serving SNP MP Angus MacNeil, a persistent Sturgeon critic, tweeted that the “soap opera has gone far enough” and that “Nicola Sturgeon suspended others from the SNP for an awful lot less.”

The SNP MSP Michelle Thomson, who ran Forbes’ leadership campaign, also called for Sturgeon to resign the whip — pointing to her own experience with the SNP leadership when she had a run-in with the law over a fraud case that was later dropped.

“Some eight years ago when an MP, I was required to resign the SNP whip although I was never personally under investigation and was certainly not arrested,” Thomson said in a statement.