Meeting of the Parliament 10 June 2026 [Draft]
The choice before us in this debate is simple. Do we believe in honesty, openness, transparency and the rule of law? Is this a Parliament that believes that its job is to hold the Government and—no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient it is—the institutions in this country to account? Alternatively, do members believe that their job is simply to use this Parliament to protect the very culture that enabled Peter Murrell to commit his crimes?
The answer to this monumental scandal is not to continue the culture of secrecy and cover-up but to confront it. The answer is to shed light, ask questions and to meaningfully learn lessons. I say to the Scottish National Party that, if it has nothing to hide, it has nothing to fear.
Let me say clearly from the outset that the responsibility for Peter Murrell’s crimes lies with Peter Murrell, but the issues that are raised by his crimes go beyond Peter Murrell himself. Operation branchform goes to the heart of the culture of the political establishment in Scotland. These are serious issues that require a serious response, which is why it is beyond doubt that there must be a parliamentary inquiry.
There has been some deliberate misinformation from the Scottish National Party, all in the hope that it can blag its way through this and that the story will move on—it will not. The inquiry is not intended to repeat operation branchform, and its role would not be to establish criminality, which is rightly the police’s job. However, there are other issues, processes, judgments, implications and lessons that are not a matter for the police but the job of this Parliament.
To respond directly to the SNP amendment, I say that it is simply an attempt to muddy the waters. The inquiry is not about “rival political parties” inquiring into another party’s internal workings. The SNP can own the shame of the embezzlement of £400,000 of its own hard-working supporters’ money, but there are legitimate questions to be asked about a culture that goes beyond how a party internally operates and that affects how our Government and country are run.
Let me quote the former SNP MP, Joanna Cherry. [Interruption.] Some SNP members are laughing at one of their former colleagues, who was bullied and intimidated out of her job. Joanna Cherry wrote:
“Peter Murrell was not a criminal mastermind he just took advantage of a system devoid of adequate checks & balances and a culture where scrutiny and questioning were demonised. That culture has infected the Scottish government, our Parliament & our civic life. It needs to change.”
Members might disagree with the latter point, but the issues merit investigation and answers.
This is the greatest political scandal since devolution. It was a police investigation involving Scotland’s governing party, so the public understandably have questions and there must be answers. Given such high levels of disaffection with politics, this inquiry is about restoring trust in our institutions and in our politics.