SNP ‘hamstrung’ by Operation Branchform, says MP

The SNP remains “hamstrung” by the police investigation into the party’s finances, its deputy Westminster leader has admitted.
Speaking to Times Radio, Pete Wishart MP expressed frustration over the impact of the inquiry on the party and its public image.
“It’s an issue that regularly comes up and there’s nothing we could say. We’re hamstrung because it’s a live and active police investigation,” Wishart told hosts Kate McCann and Adam Boulton. “If any SNP member of parliament actually was to talk about this, we’re influencing and trying to hurry up this case and we can’t do it. We just want it done, concluded and out of the way.”
The investigation into the party’s funding and finances, Operation Branchform, has been running since July 2021. It was launched after allegations were made about how the SNP had spent more than £600,000 raised in online donations, which had been ring-fenced for a second independence referendum.
Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP and husband of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, was formally charged in April with embezzling party funds. Sturgeon, Murrell and Colin Beattie, the former SNP treasurer, were all ­arrested last year and interviewed under caution as part of the inquiry. Beattie and Sturgeon were released without charge but are still under investigation.
Wishart added that despite the challenges of the inquiry, the reduced cohort of SNP MPs is prepared to adapt and continue their work in Westminster, describing their new strategy as “guerrilla warfare” — indicating a shift from broad-spectrum attacks to more targeted and tactical manoeuvres.
The SNP lost 39 seats at the July general election, dropping from 48 to to just nine.
“We’ll continue to be effective. We’ve got a fantastic little group of members of parliament who are experienced and up for the fight,” Wishart said. “It’s going to be more guerrilla warfare than an attack on all fronts that we had previously. But I’m pretty certain that you’ll be impressed by the approach that the SNP MPs will make of the new arrangements in the House of Commons.”
The MP for Perth & Kinross-shire also acknowledged that the priority of achieving Scottish independence has diminished somewhat among the electorate.
“We realise [independence is] going down in the priorities of the Scottish people. But there’s still 50 per cent support. What we’ve got to do is try and make that meaningful for people. Our task is to reunite and reconnect with that 50 per cent of people who still tell us that they want independence, but perhaps don’t see it as the pressing and crucial issue,” he said.