The SNP has insisted its finances are “in balance” after reports the party is facing a financial crisis. According to the Sunday Times the party’s treasurer told its ruling body it was struggling to balance the books due to an exodus of members and donors. The SNP told the BBC selective quotes had been taken out of context.
On Saturday the new leader Humza Yousaf dismissed rumours the SNP faced bankruptcy, saying the party was solvent. The SNP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) met on Saturday morning following a turbulent fortnight which has seen the arrest of former chief executive Peter Murrell and the SNP’s offices searched by police.
When Mr Yousaf later faced questions about rumours the party was facing possible bankruptcy, he replied: “It’s not. The party is solvent.”
However, the Sunday Times reported that the NEC meeting had been told by party treasurer Colin Beattie that it was “having difficulty in balancing the books due to the reduction in membership and donors”.
He also warned that a likely Westminster by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West in the coming months could “put the party under pressure”, according to the paper.
The SNP said the report was misleading and insisted the party was ready to contest any possible by-election which could be triggered if MP Margaret Ferrier is suspended from the Commons for breaching Covid rules.
“Selected quotes being pulled out of context are not an accurate representation of the case presented at today’s [Saturday’s] meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee,” a spokesperson said.
“The SNP’s National Treasurer confirmed the party’s finances are in balance and, as Scotland’s largest political party, we will fight any by-election with the intention to win – to suggest otherwise is farcical. Meanwhile, the party’s former Westminster leader Ian Blackford also insisted there was no immediate threat to the party’s finances.
Asked if the party was solvent Mr Blackford told The Sunday Show on Radio Scotland: “Absolutely, categorically, the SNP is solvent. The finances are in balance. We will be able to meet our obligations and liabilities going forward.”
The Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP acknowledged there had been “a dip” in membership but added he was optimistic the party would be able to reverse the decline.
He added: “When all is said and done we have still got over 70,000 members, members that are paying subscriptions, donations coming in, parliamentarians making contributions. As would be normal we will be looking at how we can raise additional funds as well.
“But the party will be ready to meet all its liabilities and will certainly be ready to meet the challenge, if it comes, of a by-election in Rutherglen over the coming period.
Last week, Mr Yousaf revealed that he had been unaware until he became leader that the SNP’s auditors had resigned more than six months ago. The firm Johnston Carmichael quit last September, and there is concern the party may be unable to conduct an audit due in July. The party has acknowledged difficulties in recruiting new auditors.
On Thursday, the new SNP leader and first minister also said he only recently learned that the SNP had bought a luxury motorhome.
It was seized by police from outside a property in Dunfermline as part of the police investigation into the party’s finances. According to Daily Record it was bought as a campaign bus ahead of the 2021 Holyrood election in case Covid restrictions limited other forms of social mixing – but was never used.
Source: BBC
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