London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Colin Beattie resigns as SNP treasurer after arrest

Colin Beattie resigns as SNP treasurer after arrest

Colin Beattie has resigned as SNP treasurer after his arrest as part of a police investigation into the party's finances.

He said he would also be stepping back from his role on the public audit committee until the police investigation had concluded.

The 71-year-old was taken into custody and released without charge on Tuesday.

It came hours before First Minister Humza Yousaf set out his government's priorities for the next three years.

In a statement, Mr Beattie said he had resigned as treasurer with "immediate effect".

He said: "On a personal level, this decision has not been easy, but it is the right decision to avoid further distraction to the important work being led by Humza Yousaf to improve the SNP's governance and transparency.

"I will continue to cooperate fully with Police Scotland's enquiries and it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further on a live case."

Mr Yousaf said the resignation was "the right thing to do" and that a new treasurer would be appointed as soon as possible.

Police Scotland launched its Operation Branchform investigation into the SNP's finances in July 2021 after receiving complaints about how donations were used.

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, who is married to former SNP leader and first minister Nicola Sturgeon, was arrested two weeks ago at the couple's home in Glasgow before also being released without charge pending further inquiries.

Officers spent two days searching the house, and also searched the SNP's headquarters in Edinburgh.

There have been newspaper reports that some people within the party are concerned that Ms Sturgeon could be the next person to be arrested in the inquiry.

Deputy First Minister Shona Robison, a close friend of Ms Sturgeon, said earlier on Wednesday that it would not be helpful to comment on the speculation and that she did not know if Ms Sturgeon had spoken to detectives.

Police searched the SNP headquarters two weeks ago


Asked if she had been in contact with Ms Sturgeon, Ms Robison told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "Right at the beginning of the process I sent her a very short message asking after her welfare really and I got a very short reply.

"We have had no discussion whatsoever about the police investigation. It would not be appropriate for me to do so."

Mr Yousaf has dismissed calls for Ms Sturgeon, Mr Murrell and Mr Beattie to be suspended from the party while the police investigation is ongoing, saying he believes in people being innocent until proven guilty.

The party raised £666,953 through referendum-related appeals between 2017 and 2020 with a pledge to spend these funds on the independence campaign.

Questions were raised after its accounts showed it had just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019, and total net assets of about £272,000.

Officers involved in the investigation spent two days searching the couple's Glasgow home and the party's headquarters in Edinburgh earlier this month.

A luxury motorhome was seized by officers from outside a property in Dunfermline on the same morning Mr Murrell was arrested.

The Mail on Sunday reported that the vehicle had been parked outside the home of Mr Murrell's 92-year-old mother since January 2021. It has since been moved to a police compound in Glasgow.

Leaked video footage published by the Sunday Mail at the weekend showed Ms Sturgeon playing down fears about the party's finances in a virtual meeting of the party's ruling body in March 2021.

The SNP's former Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, has insisted that there was "nothing untoward" in the clip and claimed that the party's finances are in "robust health".

The motorhome was transferred to a police compound in Govan on Tuesday


But the Sunday Times has reported that Mr Beattie told the NEC at the weekend that the SNP was struggling to balance its books due to a drop in member numbers and donors.

Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie said Mr Beattie's resignation was the "right decision made by the wrong man".

She said there had been a "culture of secrecy" within the SNP and criticised Humza Yousaf's decision not to suspend those subject to police inquiries.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said Mr Yousaf is being "consumed by the chaos wracking his party".

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy added the priorities of Scotland were being ignored as a result of SNP "chaos".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×