Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the BBC
5/31/202657 min
It's a controversy which has been hanging over the SNP for years - but on Monday former chief executive, Peter Murrell, admitted to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party. On this episode of Newscast, former first minister Nicola Sturgeon sits down with Laura for her first interview since her estranged husband pleaded guilty. Sturgeon, who was earlier arrested and released without charge, discusses what she knew, defends her handling of concerns about party finances, and describes how the revelations have impacted her personally.
If you would like to watch the interview, it's also available on BBC iPlayer.
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Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Laura Kuenssberg. It was made by Laurie Kalus and Paul Twinn. The planning producer was Chris Flynn. The technical producer was Jonathan Greer. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLaura Kuenssberg· Host0:00
Hi, everyone. It's Laura here. Unless you've been living on a different planet, you'll doubtless have seen stories about the huge financial scandal that has engulfed the SNP. Nicola Sturgeon, the former First Minister of Scotland, was hit for a long time by allegations that financial impropriety in the party had been going on under her nose. But at the end of May, her husband, the Chief Executive, Peter Murrell, pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,000. There have been stories of buying pepper pots that cost £3,000, of buying Game Boys, of PlayStations, and of course, that notorious motor home. But only Peter Murrell was ever charged. What did Nicola Sturgeon herself know about what was going on? She sat down with me to give, for the first time, her full account of the story. You can watch our conversation on iPlayer or YouTube, but here we thought you'd want to hear the longer version of our full conversation. And in the next episode in your feed, me, Henry, and Jo Pike will talk about what it means.
Nicola Sturgeon· Guest1:08
Newscast from the BBC.
Laura Kuenssberg· Host1:10
[dramatic music] Nicola Sturgeon, thank you very much for speaking to us today. Everyone in the country is asking, Peter Murrell, your husband for many years,