SNP treasurer Colin Beattie is stepping down from his role after he was arrested on Tuesday.

He said he will also step down from Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee while the police investigation into the party’s funding and finances takes place.

Mr Beattie, who has been SNP treasurer for most of the past 19 years, was arrested on Tuesday and spent around 11 hours in police custody before he was released without charge pending further investigation.

On 5 April, Nicola Sturgeon‘s husband Peter Murrell, who recently stepped down as SNP chief executive, was also arrested as part of the investigation and was released after nearly 12 hours in custody without charge pending further investigation.

Mr Beattie said in a statement: “This afternoon I informed the party leader that I will be stepping back from my role as SNP national treasurer with immediate effect.

“I have also informed the SNP chief whip at Holyrood that I will be stepping back from my role on the Public Audit Committee until the police investigation has concluded.

“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.”

Read more:
Culture needed to be more transparent at SNP HQ, says deputy FM
Why have senior SNP execs been arrested and what are police investigating?

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Yousaf ‘surprised’ by SNP treasurer arrest

First Minister Humza Yousaf, who replaced Ms Sturgeon in March, said he wanted to “offer my thanks to Colin” after he announced he would step back as treasurer.

“I know that his decision to step back from the role of SNP national treasurer will not have been an easy one, but he has done so in the best interest of the party,” he said.

“A new treasurer will be appointed as soon as possible.”

On Tuesday, he told Sky News Mr Beattie’s arrest was “not helpful” and “of course, I’m surprised when one of my colleagues is arrested”.

The police inquiry, named Operation Branchform, is looking into whether £666,953 worth of money raised since 2017 specifically for a second independence referendum has been improperly spent on other activities.

Police are also looking into a loan of £107,620 made in June 2021 by Mr Murrell, while he was chief executive.

The investigation was launched in 2021 following seven complaints to Police Scotland but ramped up at the beginning of April with Mr Murrell’s arrest and the search of his and Ms Sturgeon’s Glasgow home.

Detectives also seized a £100,000 motorhome owned by the SNP from outside the home of one of Mr Murrell’s elderly relatives on 5 April, and searched the SNP’s Edinburgh offices at the same time.

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Scotland’s deputy first minister Shona Robinson earlier told Sky News a “culture was allowed to develop” at SNP HQ.

Ms Robinson denied Ms Sturgeon had overall responsibility for the governance scandal – despite her being party leader for eight years.

She said the party needs to “get its house in order” to rebuild trust.

“There are clearly big issues for the party here,” Ms Robinson added.

Who are the key people in the investigation?

Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, who was made the SNP’s chief executive in 1999, was the first person to be arrested as part of the inquiry.

The 58-year-old was briefly acting party treasurer in 2021 when Douglas Chapman quit after less than a year because he “had not received the support or financial information required to carry out the fiduciary duties of national treasurer”.

Mr Murrell, who got married to Ms Sturgeon in 2010, was arrested on 5 April and their home was searched by police for nearly two days, while a £100,000 motorhome owned by the SNP was seized from outside his mother’s home.

He was released without charge pending further investigation.

As well as the money raised for a second independence campaign, police are also looking into a loan of £107,620 made in June 2021 by Mr Murrell which has not been fully repaid.

Former finance professional Mr Beattie first became the SNP’s treasurer in 2004 before having a brief break after an internal election voted in Douglas Chapman in 2020.

But he was back in the role in 2021 after Mr Chapman quit for not being provided with the tools he needed to do the job, with Mr Murrell taking on the role in the interim.

Mr Beattie was arrested on 18 March and held in custody for about 11 hours before being released without charge pending investigation.

He stepped down as treasurer and as a member of Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee the next day while the investigation is carried out.

First minister for more than eight years, Ms Sturgeon suddenly quit in February, saying the job “takes its toll on you and all around you”.

She later denied her husband’s impending arrest was anything to do with her decision and said she had “no prior knowledge” he was to be arrested.

Ms Sturgeon said she has not been questioned by the police but would “fully cooperate” if they do want to quiz her.

The former leader has kept her head down since her husband’s arrest, cancelling a few planned appearances.

Seen as the continuity candidate after Ms Sturgeon stepped down, Mr Yousaf won the leadership election on 29 March.

A long-time Sturgeon supporter, the former justice and health secretary promised “more openness, more transparency around how we do things” after Mr Murrell was arrested.

He said he was unaware the SNP owned the motorhome confiscated by police until he became party leader.

Mr Yousaf also said he had not been aware the SNP’s long-standing auditors, Johnston Carmichael, had quit in September 2022 and there is yet to be a replacement.

Asked whether it was wrong of Ms Sturgeon not to reveal to SNP leadership candidates the lack of auditors, Mr Yousaf responded: “Frankly it would have been helpful to know beforehand.”