SNP leader John Swinney dismissed growing calls for an independent inquiry into the Peter Murrell scandal, insisting “you cannot get any inquiry more detailed” than a police inquiry.

The First Minister made the remarks as his one-time cabinet colleague Alex Neill joined former SNP MP Joanna Cherry’s demands for a public inquiry into the circumstances that allowed, between 2010 and 2022, Mr Murrell to embezzle over £400,000 from SNP funds.

Ms Cherry resigned from the SNP’s NEC in 2021 after being refused access to the party’s books.

Mr Swinney said: “All these issues have been looked at.

“We know what the problem was — the problem was criminal behaviour and the police have identified that and the individual involved has been prosecuted.

“You cannot get any inquiry more detailed than a police inquiry, and I think we should all respect the fact there has been a detailed inquiry into all the issues.”

But his former cabinet colleague, Alex Neill, told BBC Radio Scotland today that “assurances from the current leadership isn’t enough.”

Pointing out former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon had told party members that “the SNP finances were fine” while “her husband was dipping into the till,” he added:

“If we want to raise the kind of money we want to raise in the future, both for the party and for the independence cause, then potential donors have to be persuaded any money they give will be properly managed.

“And that I think can only come from having an independent review to make sure that the party is doing everything it possibly can so we can never ever again have a repeat of the Peter Murrell episode.”