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Murrell inquiry by MPs would be ‘party political stunt’, SNP’s Dave Doogan says
Dave Doogan said MPs should not reopen the Peter Murrell case while police have already spent five years and more than £2 million investigating it.
SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan declared a proposed Westminster committee probe into Peter Murrell's embezzlement is an "unprecedented abuse" of the committee system and a "party political stunt."
Calls for the probe follow Murrell's guilty plea for embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP, as Conservative MP Andrew Bowie and others argue the committee must investigate systemic governance failures that enabled the theft.
Defending the party, Doogan insisted police spent five years and more than £2 million investigating the crimes, noting Scottish First Minister John Swinney has reformed financial accountability measures within the SNP.
The Scottish Affairs Committee is expected to decide on the inquiry on Tuesday when it meets, with Doogan, the sole SNP member, firmly opposed to the probe pushed by Labour and Tory MPs.
Doogan warned a partisan inquiry could be "ruthlessly" exploited by a future Reform UK government led by Nigel Farage, while Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie accused the SNP of blocking scrutiny to hide a "murky culture of cover-up.