Mystery of the £1m funding website
NATIONALIST officials have been urged to ‘come clean’ on why a £1million funding plan for an independence referendum has been ditched – and how the money already raised will be used.
The SNP launched a 100-day finance campaign in March following Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that she would be setting out her vision to hold a second referendum on breaking up Britain by spring 2019.
Officials had hoped to raise £1million by June 21 but the online donations page was pulled last week, despite being more than £500,000 short of the target.
The Scottish Labour Party yesterday raised questions over how the money raised will be spent and asked the Electoral Commission to investigate whether or not the public had been ‘misled’.
The SNP said it had not been ‘actively raising money’ on the site during the General Election and denied claims that the cash had been used to fund the party’s election campaign.
However, officials could not say if any money had been raised on the ref.scot website during the short campaign.
They also failed to explain what the money will be used for if another referendum is not held, and could not say why the page had been shut down or confirm how much had been contributed.
Scottish Labour business manager James Kelly questioned if the public had been ‘misled’ over the funding page.
He added: ‘This is a major scandal engulfing the Nationalists. They need to come clean on this, and fast. This requires an urgent statement from SNP bosses and I have written to the Electoral Commission to call for an investigation.’
According to reports, as of last Thursday £482,000 had been raised before the page was pulled on Friday – the day after the General Election. The ref.scot website is still running and features a video of Miss Sturgeon in which she urges people ‘to support Scotland’s referendum’.
Tory MSP Maurice Golden insisted that by pulling the funding page, the Nationalists were ‘in retreat’ over another referendum.
He said: ‘Last week’s result sent a clear message that voters do not want a return to the division of 2014 and it’s about time the SNP stopped this needless campaign. With senior members of their party still refusing to rule out another vote, they need to come to terms with the result of the election and take it off the table.’
Commenting on the letter from Labour, an Electoral Commission spokesman said ‘the purposes for which parties seek, obtain and use the donations they have received are matters for that party’.
When approached by the Scottish Daily Mail, the SNP was unable to answer a number of questions relating to the funding web page, claiming it was unsure why the page had closed and did not respond when asked how much had been raised.
Instead an SNP spokesman said: ‘Money raised on ref.scot is ringfenced for the purpose stated on the website – and we haven’t been actively raising money on that website since the election was called in April.
‘Our General Election appeal will pay for election campaign expenditure.’
‘Clear message voters don’t want division’