THE SNP’s ruling council was told the party is running out of money amid a drop in membership numbers and legal fees linked to the police investigation into finances.
Colin Beattie, the SNP treasurer, told the National Executive Committee (NEC) the party was “having difficulty in balancing the books due to the reduction in membership and donors” according to the Times.
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And Mr Beattie said fighting the potential by-election in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West consistency would “put the party under pressure.”
First Minister Humza Yousaf also told the meeting “significant donors and a fundraising drive” would be needed to pay for the potential by-election.
Former-SNP MP Margaret Ferrier was found to have broken Covid rules after she travelled from Scotland to London despite testing positive and being told to isolate.
Senior party figures were told the current police investigation into an alleged “missing” £600,000 raised for a second independence referendum is also impacting funds.
Mr Yousaf also hinted external forensic accountants would be brought in to scrutinise the accounts after their previous auditors, Johnson Carmichael quit.
He said: “Wherever we need particular external input around financial oversight, that is best done with forensic accountants or auditors or perhaps some other means or method.
“Certainly that external input around the financial oversight is something absolutely the NEC agreed to.”
Mr Yousaf claims he was unaware the auditors had quit six months ago when he became FM.
A Times source who was at the meeting claims Mr Beattie said there had been “huge increases in base costs” with extra money being spent to pay for the police investigation.
He added there was also difficulty “balancing the book” following the revelation over 30,000 members had left the SNP exposed during the fiery five-week Leadership contest.
The false-denial of the figures led to the resignation of the party’s head of press Murray Foote and Chief Executive and Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell.
Mr Murrell was arrested last week amid the police investigation into the missing funds and the home he shares with Ms Sturgeon and SNP HQ in Edinburgh were both searched by police.
Mr Beattie also told the NEC they needed to “find money to keep the party going forward or we’ll keep cutting our tail until there’s nothing left.”
A SNP source said: “Selected quotes being pulled out of context are not an accurate representation of the case presented at today’s meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee.
“The SNP’s National Treasurer confirmed the party’s finances are in balance and, as Scotland’s largest political party, we will fight any by-election with the intention to win – to suggest otherwise is farcical.”
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