Police raid the home of Nicola Sturgeon and husband Peter Murrell, former SNP chief executive, in Glasgow April 5. Photo: Wattie Chung
Humza Yusuf insisted there was nothing 'out of the ordinary' with the Scottish police as she waited two weeks before getting permission to search Nicola Sturgeon's home.
The First Minister said he did not believe there was «any particular reason», which was unusual for officers who had to wait from March 20 to April 3 for a search warrant to be approved.
This meant that the raid did not take place until the SNP leadership competition had ended and Mr. Yusaf had been appointed First Minister. He put himself forward as a candidate for Sturgeon's succession.
But Mr Yousaf insisted that the Crown Office would not base the time of issuance of the warrant on «electoral contests or politics» and that the Scottish Government «would never thought to intervene.”
The First Minister also said that SNP members would «go deep» to fund another independence referendum campaign despite a police investigation into the party's finances.
He said the party would «no doubt» have the necessary funds to general election campaign next year, in which he is predicted to lose many seats to Labor.
«Fundamental Questions»
His speech comes one day after a former Scottish Attorney General said the Scottish government should appoint a judge to see if «political considerations» are to blame for having officers wait for a search warrant.
Kenny MacAskill, MP for Alba, said an investigation was needed to «restore trust and confidence» in the Crown Office and reassure the public.
It transpired that on 20 March the Crown Office was informed that the police wanted to search the house where Ms Sturgeon lives with her husband Peter Murrell, a former chief executive of the SNP. At that time, there was still a week left before the stormy competition for leadership in the SNP.
However, the application for a search warrant was approved by the sheriff only on April 3, a week after the competition ended. Police raided Ms. Sturgeon's home in the early hours of April 5 and conducted a two-day search.
Mr. Murrell was arrested and later released without charge pending further investigation. Officers also ransacked the SNP's headquarters in Edinburgh and confiscated a luxurious motor home near the home of Mr Murrell's elderly mother in Dunfermline, Fife.
The Tories said the case raised «fundamental questions» about Lord Dorothy's role as Advocate Bain KC, who heads the Crown Office and is also a cabinet minister for the Scottish Government.
Mr Yusuf told BBC Radio 4's Today program that she and her deputy, the Solicitor General, are refusing » any decision that has to do with politics.”
He said, «Of course, it's really important.» that these processes and these questions that you have received around the process are for the Crown.
“I don’t believe there will be any special reason out of the ordinary that it will take this long, but, again, this is a matter for the Crown Office.»
To the press that members of the SNP may have considered the police raid on Ms Sturgeon's house «related to the vote», he insisted that the timing was based on «what's appropriate for the crown.»
Mr. Yusuf added: “So what you are really asking me to do is make a judgment about a process that has nothing to do with me. I have nothing to do with this.”
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Watch Michal Hussain's interview with Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf.
They discuss SNP issues, the future of indyref2, Nicola Sturgeon and preparations for the next general election ⬇️https://t.co/VhVjSOt45E pic.twitter.com/cRdBxAELKU
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) 17 May 2023
Since July 2021 the Scottish Police have been looking into the SNP's use of over £600,000 in donations raised in 2017 for a second independence referendum.
Supporters filed complaints when reports filed with Companies House in 2020 showed that the SNP had only £97,000 in the bank, despite the fact that the referendum was never held.
But Mr Yousaf insisted that members could trust the party with their money. , saying, «While we will of course count on donations and so on, as other political parties do, we will rely on the rank and file to raise these funds for a future independence referendum, and no doubt our members will dig deep.
He said the party's new auditors are 'confident' of meeting the deadline before the end of this month to file reports for the Westminster Group to ensure it doesn't lose £1.2m of parliamentary funding . /p>
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