EDINBURGH — The same week Peter Murrell was sent to prison for five years and three months, John Swinney stood before reporters and refused to apologise to two women who say they were bullied by senior SNP figures, including Nicola Sturgeon. The timing could hardly be worse. Murrell, the former chief executive, stole more than £400,000 from the party his wife once led.
Now the First Minister is being called “king of the SNP cover-up” for blocking a full inquiry into how the party handled internal complaints. This is not a new row.
It is a predictable consequence of a leadership culture that has, for years, treated dissent as disloyalty. Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie served on the party’s internal financial watchdog. When they tried to raise questions about the accounts, they say they felt bullied.
Swinney, on Thursday, declined to offer a direct apology. He also rejected the claim that anyone had been bullied by Sturgeon or other senior figures.
Guthrie’s response was blunt. She said Swinney’s refusal did not surprise her. “That’s how they’ve got into the mess in the first place,” she said.
“They have learned nothing and they have not changed.” She pointed to the people Swinney has promoted. She described his behaviour as “hubris and this denial.” She said he is giving journalists “a terrible time, they’re shouting down like clapping seals.” The image is striking. A First Minister, under pressure, surrounded by loyalists, dismissing whistleblowers while the party’s former chief executive sits in a prison cell.
Guthrie is a supporter of independence. She made that clear.
“I believe in an independent Scotland and want an independent Scotland and this isn’t good enough,” she said. She called on Swinney to “step up to the plate, grow some and start leading the country.” Her conclusion was stark: “It’s unsustainable.” Where does this go from here? Pressure for a KC-led inquiry is not going away.
Guthrie has supported those calls. Swinney has resisted.
The longer he resists, the more the story stays alive. Each refusal to apologise, each denial, each blocked inquiry reinforces the narrative that the SNP leadership cannot hold itself accountable. The Murrell case changed the landscape.
Before the jailing, Swinney could argue that the party was dealing with the embezzlement through the courts. That argument is now gone. The question is no longer whether the party has a problem with transparency.
The question is whether Swinney is willing to admit it. He has not shown any sign of doing so.
His denials on Thursday suggest he believes the political calculation still favours stonewalling. The risk is that each day of denial deepens the damage, not just to his own reputation, but to the cause of independence itself. Guthrie said it plainly: Scotland deserves better.
The families watching this unfold, and ordinary SNP members, are left to decide whether they agree.
