The controversy engulfing jailed former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell is poised to come under scrutiny in the House of Lords, the Mail can reveal.
A bid to launch an inquiry at Holyrood was defeated after the Scottish Greens sided with the SNP to block calls for MSPs to investigate the affair.
Peers are now preparing for the possibility of their own probe as pressure builds over Murrell’s embezzlement of more than £400,000 from party funds.
The move follows demands from a Conservative MP for an inquiry, after he alleged Nicola Sturgeon had lied about the scandal and had helped to stitch up former First Minister Alex Salmond to conceal the truth.
Sir David Davis, a close friend of Mr Salmond, made a dramatic intervention in the Commons last month, setting out a series of claims that Ms Sturgeon was aware of Murrell’s crimes — allegations she strongly denies.
The Mail has spoken to a senior cross-bench peer who asked not to be named because they believe they could be asked to lead any inquiry or have a role in it.
The peer said: ‘Something must be done to clear the matter up. It does no good to have it hanging over everyone’s head.’
They added that no formal move for a Lords inquiry had been made ‘yet’, but said the issue was being discussed. The peer said they did not want to risk ruling themselves out of a future probe by commenting publicly before it began, which could be interpreted as bias.
Peter Murrell in the dock at the High Court in Edinburgh
A Lords select committee inquiry has powerful tools at its disposal. According to Parliamentary rules, it ‘may issue a formal summons to a witness or make an order for the production of documents’.
If a witness refused to attend or to produce documents they could be held in contempt of Parliament – which could result in a fine or imprisonment.
Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: ‘It appears John Swinney is the only person who doesn’t agree there needs to be an inquiry into this SNP scandal.
‘The fact Lords are considering getting involved sums up the seriousness of this situation and why the truth must be uncovered.
‘Swinney is running scared of scrutiny as he is terrified what any inquiry might reveal about the culture of cover-up within his party and how it enabled Murrell’s crimes for over a decade.’
The disclosure piles pressure on Mr Swinney who has ruled out a Murrellgate inquiry, insisting the SNP was the victim of fraud – and the long-running Police Scotland probe, and Mr Murrell’s conviction, should draw a line under the affair.
MPs on Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee are still weighing up whether to investigate the affair.
Mr Murrell was locked up for five years at the High Court in Edinburgh in June after admitting the theft. The estranged husband of former First Minister Ms Sturgeon pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of £400,310.65 from the party between 2010 and 2022.
The motorhome parked at Murrell’s mother’s house
The 61-year-old used the funds to make hundreds of extravagant purchases, including a £124,550 motorhome, cars, jewellery, luxury homeware and designer stationery.
Mr Swinney and Ms Sturgeon have been accused of having ‘enabled’ Mr Murrell’s ‘brazen’ theft because of the lack of controls within the party and ‘hostility’ towards those raising concerns.
It led to mounting calls for a full parliamentary inquiry into the scandal, including whether public funds were involved.
Ms Sturgeon has been criticised for refusing to publish her written statement to Police Scotland. There is also a row over the delay of a preliminary hearing for Mr Murrell which had been scheduled to take place ahead of the Holyrood election on May 7.
The Crown Office said Mr Murrell’s preliminary court hearing was delayed in the ‘interests of justice’, to give Murrell’s defence team more time to examine paperwork.
Former Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, KC, who has been appointed a judge, was accused of ‘tipping off’ Mr Swinney about the case before details of the Murrell indictment had come to light publicly.
Mr Swinney has said he was ‘not a serving office bearer in the SNP from 2004 to 2024, so I had no operational right to look at these things’, while Ms Sturgeon insists she had no knowledge of Mr Murrell’s 12-year crime spree.
