FM admits police probe has impacted trust in SNP

First Minister Humza Yousaf admits the police investigation into SNP finances has “clearly” impacted on the public’s perception and dwindling trust in the party.

He also admitted the SNP government had made “failures” and “mistakes”, saying his party needed to be upfront about where it had not stepped up.

Operation Branchform, the police investigation into party finances, has plagued Mr Yousaf’s time as SNP leader. In the past year former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, former chief executive Peter Murrell and former treasurer Colin Beattie were all arrested as part of this investigation into what £600,000 of donations have been spent on. All three were later released without charge.

Speaking to Political Thinking with Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4, Mr Yousaf said: “The police investigation has been one of the most difficult times for the party. There’s no ifs or buts or maybes about it.

“There has clearly been an impact in terms of how we were perceived by the public and issues of trust, and I’ve got to work hard. I hope I’ve been doing [that] over the last ten months.

“I’ve got to work hard to makesurethatpeopleknow, whatever the outcome of that police investigation is, that the SNP is a party that they can trust.”

Mr Yousaf said he had “never really been comfortable” with the party having the word “national” in its name as it can be misinterpreted.

During his interview, the First Minister also admitted his SNP government has had “failures” and made “mistakes”. Mr Yousaf said: “We haven’t achieved everything we’ve wanted to achieve. Where we’ve had failuresthough,wherewe’ve not stepped up to the mark, we’ve been upfront about that and we endeavour to learn from that and lessons from that.”