Dodgy SNP30 Nov 2022 05:35
“ NICOLA STURGEON has been urged to hand back £600,000 of “missing” funds the SNP raised from party members to fight an independence referendum campaign.
The First Minister should “do the right thing” and return the money after the Supreme Court ruled she did not have the power to stage her planned separation vote next year, the Scottish Tories said.
They said she needed to “sort out her party’s dodgy finances”, with Police Scotland investigating allegations of fraud over how the funds were used.
The SNP raised £600,000 in two fundraising drives in 2017 and 2019 after promising members the money would be “ring-fenced” for a future referendum campaign.
But supporters were worried when accounts lodged in 2020 appeared to show the SNP only had £97,000 in the bank, forcing the party to admit the £600,000 had not been set aside.
Instead, it claimed the cash donated by supporters had been “earmarked” for use in a future campaign through an internal process which would “ensure that pound for pound that total will be spent on that campaign”.
Sharon Dowey, a Conservative MSP, said: “Nicola Sturgeon has to intervene and give people back the missing money that appears to have been raised for false purposes. The SNP leader should come clean about how this £600,000 was really spent and return it to people who donated in good faith.”
The row over the “missing” cash led to resignations by senior SNP MPs last year amid concerns about financial transparency.
The SNP failed yesterday to state that it would hand back the money, with a party spokesman saying: “The Tories forget what history teaches us – the overwhelming power of democracy to triumph.”
Ms Sturgeon has refused to reallocate her £20?million referendum fund despite the Supreme Court’s decision.”
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