Peter Murrell scandal shows SNP leadership was 'at best asleep at the wheel, at worst grossly negligent', says Joanna Cherry

By TOM GORDON, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 21:19, 2 June 2026 | Updated: 21:19, 2 June 2026 The SNP leadership and its senior staff were ‘at best asleep at the wheel, at worst grossly negligent’ during Peter Murrell’s crime spree, Joanna Cherry has said. The former SNP MP said it was clear from the facts read out in court on Tuesday that the party’s financial management had been ‘wholly inadequate’. Murrell didn’t need to be a ‘criminal mastermind’ to embezzle £400,000, he ‘just took advantage of a system devoid of checks and balances’. The respected KC urged John Swinney to support an inquiry into SNP governance but felt he was ‘afraid’ of what it might reveal as his priority was ‘protecting the party’. Her verdict echoed that of ex-SNP MP Tommy Sheppard who said on Monday that the SNP’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) was ‘not fit for purpose’. He said ‘criticism was not encouraged’ and questioning was viewed as ‘disloyalty’ when Murrell was chief executive and married to Nicola Sturgeon. Writing on social media after Murrell returned to court as his crimes were laid out before judge Lord Young, Ms Cherry said: ‘From Murrell narrative it’s clear that the systems put in place by the SNP for financial management were wholly inadequate. ‘Leadership, party office bearers, most of NEC, HQ staff…. at best asleep at the wheel at worst grossly negligent. Respected KC Joanne Cherry has urged John Swinney to support an inquiry into SNP governance ‘Those of us who queried the lack of transparency & scrutiny have been completely vindicated. ‘We deserve an apology but far more importantly, Scotland deserves an independent inquiry to get to the bottom of this level of incompetence at the heart of the party of Government.’ She added: ‘Peter Murrell was not a criminal mastermind he just took advantage of a system devoid of adequate checks & balances and a culture where scrutiny and questioning were demonised. ‘That culture has infected the Scottish government, our Parliament & our civic life. It needs to change.’ Ms Cherry and others on the NEC complained valid questions about the SNP’s finances in early 2021 were ‘shut down’ by the party hierarchy. At the time, Ms Sturgeon insisted there was not a problem and warned NEC members to be ‘very careful’ about implying there was. Four months later police launched Operation Branchform after a complaint about £600,000 ringfenced for an independence campaign being misused and came upon Murrell’s embezzlement. Ms Cherry insisted Peter Murrell (pictured) was not a 'criminal mastermind' Ms Cherry said Mr Swinney should back an inquiry and ‘stop this disingenuous line that the police have fully investigated everything’. She told the Herald: ‘The police only look at criminality. We’re not talking about criminality now. We’re talking about the governance of the SNP and a culture whereby anyone who raised questions was not just shut down, but was demonised, smeared and bullied. ‘I don’t think John is a bad person, but I think he will be afraid about what an inquiry will uncover. What John cares about is protecting the party above all else.’ At Holyrood, Mr Swinney said financial oversight in the party had been improved since he returned as leader in 2024. He said: ‘Any invoice, any payment in the SNP has got to be seen by three pairs of eyes - the head of finance, the chief executive, and the national treasurer. ‘That’s before anything gets presented to the National Executive Committee. He denied Murrell had too much power and added: ‘Systems were circumvented. There was falsification of invoices, there was misquoting of items. These are all steps to deceive. It’s not about having too much power, it’s about abusing and circumventing systems that are in place.’ Put to him that questions being ignored, ‘incurious’ leadership and flawed audit checks amounted to poor governance, he said: ‘Well, we’ve now got very strong governance in things, and I’m confident about that.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.