It’s getting to the “you couldn’t make it up” stage. The shock resignations, the arrests and questioning of those at the very top of the party, police searching offices and homes and digging in gardens for evidence, the £110k luxury motorhome, meant to be converted into a campaign battle bus, but seized from the leader’s husband’s mum’s front drive, still in pristine original condition; the revelations go on and on. The staggering and, for well over a million voters, excruciatingly painful to watch unravelling of the Scottish National Party is almost Shakespearian in its dramatic intensity, with continuing theatrical elements of comedy, tragedy and even farce. First under Alex Salmond, and then for nearly nine years under Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP has soared from near insignificance to enjoy more than fifteen years of one-party rule in Scotland. But the swift ramping up of Operation Branchform, Police Scotland’s ongoing investigation into the SNP’s funding and finances, which was originally launched in 2021, has sent shock waves through both Holyrood and Westminster.
The Branchform investigation is into possible SNP fraud, specifically whether money raised for a second referendum campaign has been used for other means. Inquiries are continuing, and further facts will undoubtedly emerge, which could lead to criminal charges. But what next for the SNP and the push for Scottish independence, and what now for Nicola Sturgeon? New SNP leader and First Minister, Humza Yousaf, was talking of fresh starts but is now having to deal with what SNP president, Mike Russell, has described as the party’s “biggest crisis in 50 years”. Sturgeon had been tipped for a top job at the United Nations. That dream is probably in tatters, as may be the dream of an independent Scotland in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the opposition parties are circling. Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, has already suggested the possibility of tactical voting in coming elections, despite a Tory central office spokesperson denying it was party policy. And while Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has also rejected suggestions of tactical voting or pacts, he and his colleagues will be relishing the prospect of a return to power.
