I’ve no idea about state of SNP finances says Humza
HUMZA Yousaf has admitted he does not know about the state of SNP finances or membership numbers.
The frontrunner to become the next First Minister vowed to launch a probe into the financial ‘health’ of the party if he wins.
He also said he would want to launch a drive to raise donations ahead of the next general election.
It comes amid growing concern among SNP members about the state of the party’s finances.
Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, gave the party a £107,620 loan in June 2021 ‘to assist with cash flow’.
Police are investigating claims that cash donated to the SNP through an independence campaign fundraising drive had gone missing.
At the weekend, it also emerged that SNP membership numbers have slumped by nearly 50,000. During a campaign visit to Stirling yesterday, Mr Yousaf said he was ‘open’ to bringing in independent auditors to assess the state of the SNP’s finances.
He added: ‘I don’t know the financial picture of the party because I’m not an office bearer of the party.’
Mr Yousaf said he knows nothing more about the state of the finances than has been reported by the media, and added he did not want to comment on a ‘live police investigation’.
He said: ‘I just don’t know what the financial picture of the party is, so one of the first things I would do is want to understand what the party’s finances are, what the health of the party is.
‘And I hope that if I’m the leader of the party I would be able to attract donations to the party because we have to have finances in order to help us with the Yes campaign and help us get ready for an election campaign.’
The SNP has remained tight-lipped about member numbers but The Scottish Mail on Sunday disclosed that 78,000 online forms will be issued by the company running the ballot.
That figure is down from the 125,000strong membership in 2019. Asked if he was worried about the figures, Mr
Yousaf said: ‘There are reports and I’d like to see what the health of the party is. But by far we are the largest party in Scotland.’
Mr Yousaf also stepped up his warning that the next SNP leader may not win enough support from MSPs to become First Minister if they end the coalition deal with the Greens.
He said: ‘We know the process is that the candidate for First Minister has to be approved by the Holyrood chamber, so if the first act of a new leader is to reject the deal with the Greens, their support absolutely couldn’t be taken for granted.’
On claims from rival Kate Forbes that she has been the victim of ‘smears’ since the beginning of the campaign, he said: ‘I spent yesterday with her at the hustings and we were in good form together and we think all campaigns have been run very well. So I don’t think there has been any smear.’
Responding to social security minister Ben Macpherson suggesting that the SNP should ‘go down a gear’ in its push for an independence referendum, Mr Yousaf said: ‘I think we should be ramping up, not ramping down activity. If I was the First Minister I’d put us into fifth gear.’
In Glasgow, Ms Forbes also said she would ‘fundamentally disagree’ with Mr Macpherson’s comments .
She said: ‘We have learned lessons of how not to do it from Brexit but you can be far more effective in laying the groundwork from the very beginning.
‘I think the nature of the transition is that it’s gradual, but I would distance myself from the assumption that it would take decades.’
‘I would hope to attract donations’