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Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell has been charged by police after he was arrested amid an investigation into the SNP’s funding and finances.

Police said he has been charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the party.

The former SNP chief executive, 59, was questioned by detectives after being taken into Police Scotland custody on Thursday at 9.13am.

He remained in police custody until he was charged just after 6.30pm.

Murrell has since been released from custody.

A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in due course.

 Peter Murrell, the former Chief Executive of the Scottish National Party
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Murrell is the former chief executive of the SNP. Pic: PA

The police investigation into the party’s funding and finances has been ongoing for years.

It has been dubbed Operation Branchform.

Murrell became chief executive of the SNP in 2001, he stepped down from the role in 2023 having held it for more than 20 years.

He has been married to Ms Sturgeon – who resigned as first minister last February – since 2010.

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Corruption watchdog clears Javier Milei over LIBRA crypto scandal

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Corruption watchdog clears Javier Milei over LIBRA crypto scandal

Corruption watchdog clears Javier Milei over LIBRA crypto scandal

Argentina’s corruption watchdog has cleared President Javier Milei of wrongdoing over the LIBRA scandal, saying the post was made while acting in a personal capacity.

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Gaming data is the next AI battleground

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Gaming data is the next AI battleground

Gaming data is the next AI battleground

Gaming’s behavioral data is rapidly becoming the most sought-after resource in AI. Game telemetry fuels next-gen AI agents for everything from logistics to finance. The battle for gaming data is on.

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Rachel Reeves turning around UK’s finances ‘like Steve Jobs did for Apple’, claims minister

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Rachel Reeves turning around UK's finances 'like Steve Jobs did for Apple', claims minister

Rachel Reeves will turn around the economy the way Steve Jobs turned around Apple, a cabinet minister has suggested ahead of the upcoming spending review.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle compared the chancellor to the late Apple co-founder when asked on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips where the £86bn for his department is coming from.

Politics Live: Winter fuel payment cut to be dealt with ‘in run up to autumn’

Steve Jobs. Pic: Reuters
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Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs, who died in 2011. Pic: Reuters

Rachel Reeves
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves


The package, confirmed ahead of the full spending review next week, will see each region in England granted £500m to spend on science projects of their choice, including research into faster drug treatments.

Asked by Trevor Phillips how the government is finding the money, Mr Kyle said: “Rachel raised money in taxes in the autumn, we are now allocating it per department.

“But the key thing is we are going to be investing record amounts of money into the innovations of the future.

“Just bear in mind that how Apple turned itself around when Steve Jobs came back to Apple, they were 90 days from insolvency. That’s the kind of situation that we had when we came into office.

“Steve Jobs turned it around by inventing the iMac, moving to a series of products like the iPod.

“Now we are starting to invest in the vaccine processes of the future, some of the high-tech solutions that are going to be high growth. We’re investing in our space sector… they will create jobs in the future.”

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The spending review is a process used by governments to set departmental budgets for the years ahead.

Asked if it will include more detail on who will receive winter fuel payments, Mr Kyle said that issue will be “dealt with in the run-up to the autumn”.

“This is a spending review that’s going to set the overall spending constraints for government for the next period, the next three years, so you’re sort of talking about two separate issues at the moment,” he said.

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‘So we won’t get an answer on winter fuel this week?

Scrapping universal winter fuel payments was one of the first things Labour did in government – despite it not being in their manifesto – with minsters saying it was necessary because of the financial “blackhole” left behind by the Tories.

But following a long-drawn out backlash, Sir Keir Starmer said last month that the government would extend eligibility, which is now limited to those on pension credit.

Read more: Spending review 2025 look ahead

It is not clear what the new criteria will be, though Ms Reeves has said the changes will come into place before this winter.

Mr Kyle also claimed the spending review will see the government invest “the most we’ve ever spent per pupil in our school system”.

However, he said the chancellor will stick to her self-imposed fiscal rules – which rule out borrowing for day-to-day spending – meaning that while some departments will get extra money, others are likely to face cuts.

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