Why did SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie get Arrested?
This is to inform you that Police Scotland has arrested the treasurer of The Scottish National Party. Yes, you heard it right, Colin Beattie has been arrested. Since Colin Beattie’s arrest news broke out, it has been trending and making headlines all over the internet. People have been thrown into a frenzy to know why Police Scotland arrested Colin Beattie. Colin Beattie is the treasurer of The Scottish National Party. What are the charges against Colin Beattie? Netizens have been asking numerous questions regarding the arrest of Colin Beattie. In the following sections of this column, we have discussed all the aspects of this headline. All the queries related to this news headline will be responded to. Kindly stick with this page and must go through the following section.
SNP treasurer Colin Beattie Arrested
Sources claimed that The Scottish National Party’s treasurer Colin Beattie was arrested in a party funding investigation. He is a suspect in the party’s funding and finances scam. Reportedly, Colin Beattie had been interviewed by detectives. The news of Colin Beattie’s arrest came after the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell who is the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party. Earlier this month, Peter Murrell was arrested at his home in Glasgow and detectives also seized the motorhome parked outside Peter’s mother’s house in Fife. Scroll down the page and read more details.
Colin Beattie is currently 71 years of age and he is arrested in SNP’s funding and finances investigation. As mentioned, Nicola’s husband Peter Murrell was arrested earlier this month, he was released the next day without any charge but he is subject to further investigation and questioning. Now, Police Scotland arrested the treasurer of the SNP. The authority also issued a statement after Colin Beattie’s arrest.
The Police Scotland stated, “A 71-year-old man has today, Tuesday, 18 April 2023, been arrested as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National party. The man is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives. A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.” Later the identity of the accused was identified as Colin Beattie who is the SNP MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh and a former banker. Previously Colin served as party treasurer for a span of 16 years until he was defeated by Douglas Chapman in an internal election. However, Douglas Chapman stepped down as the treasurer of the party in 2021 by citing that he had not sufficient access to the financial information of the party then Colin Beattie once again stepped in as the treasurer of the party. Scroll down the page and read more details.
Why did SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie get Arrested?
Nicola Sturgeon’s successor as first minister, Humza Yousaf said that he would talk to Colin Beattie in due course about if he would remain as party treasurer or not. Humza Yousaf further added, “Colin Beattie’s arrest was a very serious matter but people are innocent until proven guilty” The arrest of Colin was made hours before Humzah Yousaf made a big policy statement at Holyrood he plans to set out the policy priorities of his new government. He acknowledged the action of the police as far from ideal. Scroll down the page and read more details.
The investigation was launched by police in 2021 following complaints were registered about the Scottish National Party’s handling of over £600,000 in donations given to the party, apparently for a fresh independence referendum campaign started in 2019. It was found that money was not put into a separate, segregated SNP account. And Sturgeon asserted it was all accounted for, and the equivalent amount would be spent on that referendum campaign by the party. Read more details in the next section.
In 2021, Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister said, “Money hasn’t gone missing and all money goes through the SNP accounts independently all fully audited. We don’t hold separate accounts, we’re under no legal requirement to do that. Our accounts are managed on a cashflow basis, but every penny we raise to support the campaign for independence will be spent on the campaign for independence.” But no campaign has been started so far. In addition, the accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael stepped down as the external auditors of the party. Scroll down the page and get more info.
Colin Beattie reportedly told Saturday the Scottish National Party executive committee that the SNP was having difficulty balancing its books because, over the last 12 months, it had lost 30,000 members and had extra costs to pay due to the investigation. The newly elected SNP leader Humza Yousaf said SNP was solvent. And Colin Beattie backed Yousaf’s main rival Kate Forbes in the party leadership contest. Stay tuned to this website for more details and updates.
