The police investigation involving Nicola Sturgeon’s husband is “moving on” with prosecutors to receive a file within weeks, Scotland’s most senior officer has told Sky News.
The former first minister and SNP leader’s spouse, Peter Murrell, has been charged in connection with embezzlement of party funds.
In her first interviews since taking on the UK’s second biggest police force, Chief Constable Jo Farrell insisted her officers are “objective” but refused to be drawn on whether the long-running probe will end imminently.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Branchform, was launched in July 2021 after officers received complaints about how SNP donations were used.
There were questions about more than £660,000 raised for a second Scottish independence referendum campaign.
Image: Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell, who were both arrested as part of Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform. Pic: PA
Officers concluded in April there is sufficient evidence to charge Murrell in connection with embezzlement of party funds.
The next stage is for Scotland’s prosecution service, the Crown Office, to receive a report on the case from police and decide whether to proceed to court.
A Crown Office spokesman said: “All (of) Scotland’s prosecutors act independently of political interference.
“As is routine, to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations, we do not comment in detail on their conduct.”
Chief Con Farrell was questioned by Sky News about why the investigation was taking so long to conclude.
Image: Chief Constable Jo Farrell described the investigation as ‘complex’
She said: “It’s a live investigation, complex investigation and the matter has been progressed, and we expect the report to go to the Crown Office in a matter of weeks.”
Asked about this probe continuing in a general election year, she said: “We’ve investigated allegations. That’s moving on.
“We have very skilled, professional, objective individuals working on that case.”
The senior officer refused to say when the SNP probe would be fully concluded or whether other individuals would face further questions.
“I’m not going to make a commentary on the length of it. One person’s been charged, the report will go to the Crown Office and it’s a live investigation,” she said.
Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.
Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.
Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?
The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.
The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.
High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.
The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.
Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.
The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.
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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.
French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.
A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.
“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.
“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”
It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.
“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.
“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.
He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.
“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.
“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.
“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”