Keith Brown: “We are the most transparent and most successful party…in Scotland. We need to increase this transparency.” Photo: Jane Barlow/PA
The SNP's deputy leader insists the party is «the most transparent» in Scotland and has «nothing to hide», despite admitting it has been kept in the dark for a long time. permanent auditors quit.
Keith Brown raised his eyebrows, saying the SNP wanted to «set the standard for transparency and shame other parties» amid a police probe into its finances that shocked the country.
But he admitted that he only recently learned that the party's auditors resigned last September, shortly before the resignation was announced earlier this month.
Mr Brown also claimed that membership in the SNP has increased over the past few months of unrest, during which a long-time chief executive and party treasurer was arrested but refused to provide any figures.
In an exasperated television interview, during which he appeared flustered and defensive, Mr. Brown justified his boast of being transparent, arguing that the public has a «very good idea» of the total membership of the SNP, but no idea of the number of Conservatives or Labor Party.
However, Peter Murrell, Ms Sturgeon's husband, was forced to resign as the party's chief executive along with Murray Foote, its head of public affairs, after the SNP denied accurate media reports that it has lost 30,000 members.
Humza Yusuf said he was only informed that accounting firm Johnston Carmichael had resigned as auditor after he won the SNP leadership competition. Photo: Ken Jack/Getty
Mr Murrell and Colin Beatty, then Treasurer, have since been arrested by police investigating SNP finances. Both men were released without charge pending further investigation.
It was also revealed earlier this month that accounting firm Johnston Carmichael resigned as auditor in September, with Humza Yousaf saying he was only informed after he won the SNP leadership contest last month.
The party must apply for 2022. annual reports with the election commission by July 7, but still has not found a replacement. Stuart Macdonald, MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, was appointed to replace Mr. Beatty as Treasurer.
Mr Brown told the BBC's Sunday show Scotland that the appointment of Mr Macdonald and Mr Yousaf, who announced a review of the party's governance, demonstrated that the new First Minister is taking action to «address these internal problems».
“In the meantime, we are one of the most transparent parties in the UK,” he continued, referring to the publication of membership numbers.
“They didn’t tell you”
Referring to the fact that the Labor Party and the Tories didn't make this information public, he said, «You can't gloss over the fact that they didn't mislead us — they didn't tell you.»
“We are the most transparent, most successful party…in Scotland. We need to increase that transparency.”
But he expressed regret that the previous party transparency review he oversaw was delayed by the SNP in 2021 and never materialized.
Mr. Brown also told Sky News that «we have nothing to hide» and said he believes «the best days of SNP are yet to come.»
But under pressure, when he learned that Johnston Carmichael had resigned last September, he said: “Not long before it went public. We've been talking for the past few months.»
Claiming that this is a matter for the SNP's ruling national executive committee and not for the wider party to know, he said, «It's been pretty common, so it's there was no crisis if we did not have auditors.
“It was a change of auditors and the current auditors, along with many other third sector businesses and organizations across the UK, have taken the decision to withdraw from their activities.”
Permitted membership refusal
However, the SNP has since been forced to inform the Electoral Commission“ about the difficulty of finding replacement auditors.”
The party admitted in March that its membership had fallen to 72,186, down 30,000 from the end of 2021. after previously dismissing accurate reports of the decline as «bullshit.»
Mr Brown insisted that membership and donations are on the rise again despite the scandal that has engulfed the party, saying that across the country there was a 'spike'.
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When asked how many new members joined the SNP, he said: : Yes, we also lost participants.
«But the balance sheet shows an increase in the number of participants.»
Mr Brown insisted that the scandal not be mentioned on the doorstep of Rutherglen and Hamilton West, where a Westminster by-election is expected shortly.
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