SNP leader Humza Yousaf told to suspend Nicola Sturgeon after her arrest

12 June 2023 , 08:40

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Even party colleagues want the former First Minister suspended (Image: AP)

Calls are growing for Nicola Sturgeon to be suspended from the Scottish National Party after she was arrested.

The former First Minister was held and questioned for seven hours by officers probing the SNP’s finances under her leadership.

Her arrest was a huge blow for her successor Humza Yousaf, who only became party chief in March.

Demands for her to be suspended from the SNP, which she led for nine years, came from within the party itself - piling pressure on fledgling premier Mr Yousaf to act.

Former leadership candidate Ash Regan told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I think that the leadership and Humza need to really think about taking decisive action at the moment.”

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Humza Yousaf has won the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader (PA)

She said the probe into the party's finances could be a "distraction", adding: "I think that Nicola should perhaps consider voluntarily resigning her SNP membership until this can be cleared up."

She added: “I think she no doubt will be considering whether she should resign from the party at the moment."

SNP MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, covering the Western Isles, Angus MacNeil, tweeted: "This soap opera has gone far enough, Nicola Sturgeon suspended others from the SNP for an awful lot less.

"Time for political distance until the investigation ends either way."

Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was a "shocking state of affairs although not surprising, because I think we all anticipated that at some point Nicola Sturgeon would be arrested for questioning about the SNP finances because she is, of course, the third signatory on the accounts".

Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie (PA)

Ms Bailie added: "The question in my mind is, given all this chaos, given the kind of secrecy and cover-up that has been the hallmark of how the SNP operate, is whether Humza Yousaf, the current First Minister, is indeed strong enough to suspend her and protect the party.

"I've no doubt in my mind, he absolutely needs to do that."

Asked what the consequences have been for Scottish politics, Ms Baillie said: "The impact has been profound, irrespective of what the outcome is.”

Scottish Conservatives chairman Craig Hoy said: "Nicola Sturgeon and other senior SNP figures - including Humza Yousaf - must cooperate fully with this police investigation and commit to full transparency surrounding it.

"The SNP continue to be engulfed in murkiness and chaos. Humza Yousaf must now show some leadership and suspend his predecessor from the SNP."

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After her release from custody pending further investigations, Ms Sturgeon, 52, said: “Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law - I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing."

Mr Yousaf later insisted he will not suspend Ms Sturgeon from the SNP - and said her arrest was "personally painful".

The former First Minister's husband, Peter Murrell - the party's former chief executive - and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie, have also been arrested and released without charge during the investigation.

Mr Yousaf said: "I'll not suspend Nicola's membership. I'll treat her in the same way I've treated, for example, Colin Beattie.

"Those that have been released without charge, I see no reason to suspend their membership."

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Ben Glaze