Brazen Peter Murrell insisted the SNP would willingly report criminality to the police – just hours after purchasing a luxury motorhome with money he had embezzled from the party.

Back in 2020, Murrell was the SNP chief executive and was giving evidence to MSPs about the party’s disciplinary procedures.

He told them that, although the party had never had to report a member to the police, it would do so if it unearthed a ‘clear act of criminality’. 

He then went on to discuss how the SNP would report MSPs to the parliament and other institutions if an allegation was made about ‘misuse of funds’.

At the time, his comments seemed unremarkable. But in the light of his criminal conviction, they now seem incredibly brazen.

Last month the 61-year-old admitted siphoning off more than £400,000 from the SNP over a 12-year period. He is due back in court for sentencing on Tuesday.

Among his huge catalogue of purchases was a £125,000 campervan, with court documents showing he made the final payment on December 7, 2020 – the day before making his comments at Holyrood.

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: ‘Murrell’s shamelessness is breath- taking. His calm and casual discussion around the hypothetical misuse of public funds just hours after he’d bought the infamous campervan with stolen money is brazen to the point of psychopathic.

‘I don’t think you could mark his neck with a blowtorch.’

Following his guilty plea, footage of his appearance at Holyrood has resurfaced. Murrell was quizzed on December 8, 2020, during a probe into how sex harassment complaints involving ex-First Minister Alex Salmond were handled.

Murrell shifts in his seat and looks uncomfortable as he is questioned by the SNP’s Angela Constance. 

Asked if a complaint to the SNP might be escalated to the police, he said: ‘I cannot think of a circumstance in which we would do that, unless a clear act of criminality was on display. We have never been in such a situation.’

Murrell went on to explain that accusations of misuse of funds would trigger a complaint to other bodies. He said: ‘We are in charge of policing SNP complaints.

‘If someone alleged the misuse of public funds by a parliamentarian, there are more appropriate ways to report that. If another body had competence to investigate, we would signpost it.’

MPs are now seeking to determine if public money was misused by Murrell. The Scottish Affairs Committee (SAC) last week wrote to authorities at the Commons to find out how much ‘short money’ – public cash allocated to opposition parties – was given to the SNP over the period of Murrell’s crimes.

The SAC is also considering launching its own inquiry into the wider circumstances surrounding the scandal.