Nicola Sturgeon: ‘I can only speak for myself’ on police investigation into SNP finances

Nicola Sturgeon has said she “can only speak for myself” when asked about her husband’s involvement in matters relating to the investigation by Police Scotland into party finances.  

The former first minister was appearing in parliament for the first time since she was arrested earlier this month.

Sturgeon was questioned by detectives from Operation Branchform, an investigation into the SNP finances.

Addressing journalists at Holyrood today, she was asked if her husband Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP, was innocent of any wrongdoing.

She said: “Before I say what I’m about to say, I’m saying it as a statement of fact, not a loaded statement that you should read anything into one way or the other. In a situation like this, I can only speak for myself and I am speaking for myself. There is also a difference between me and my husband – I’m an elected politician, I’m a public servant, and therefore that’s a legitimate expectation on me that I make statements and to the best of my ability, answer questions…”

Sturgeon added: “It’s not been the best period in my life. It’s not an easy period. I’m not saying that for sympathy…The thing that sustains me right now is the certainty that I have done nothing wrong. It is a belief and a certainty that I have.”

Asked whether in the past as leader of the party, she had asked others to step back when they maintained they have done nothing wrong, Sturgeon said, “that assertion has been made” adding that she respects the position of the SNP MSPs that have called for her to be suspended from the party.  

She said: “I understand the feeling that drives that position, but you are not actually correct that that was some sort of iron precedent.”