Nicola Sturgeon, former first minister 'completely in the clear' following police investigation
After a process which has run for years, things have happened very quickly for Nicola Sturgeon over the past week.
Last Tuesday she announced she was going to stand down from the Scottish Parliament, looking ahead to a new chapter in life after 27 years at Holyrood.
Yesterday she underlined that writing is a big part of that, launching the title page and release date for her memoirs.
And today a major cloud has been lifted from the horizon by the fact she is no longer the focus of the police investigation.
Yes, there is still the prospect of her estranged husband facing a trial, having appeared in court this morning.
There is no fixed timeline for any further appearance for Peter Murrell in the legal procedure; it could take many more months.
But for Nicola Sturgeon, things have moved very swiftly indeed over the last few days.
Today's events come just over a week after Nicola Sturgeon announced she was to stand down as an MSP.
The ex-SNP leader confirmed she would not seek re-election at the Holyrood election in May next year.
After announcing her decision on social media, she told BBC Scotland News her time in parliament had been a "privilege beyond words".
She added: "But the time is right for me at this stage in my life to close the book on that chapter and open a new one."
After a process which has run for years, things have happened very quickly for Nicola Sturgeon over the past week.
Last Tuesday she announced she was going to stand down from the Scottish Parliament, looking ahead to a new chapter in life after 27 years at Holyrood.
Yesterday she underlined that writing is a big part of that, launching the title page and release date for her memoirs.
And today a major cloud has been lifted from the horizon by the fact she is no longer the focus of the police investigation.
Yes, there is still the prospect of her estranged husband facing a trial, having appeared in court this morning.
There is no fixed timeline for any further appearance for Peter Murrell in the legal procedure; it could take many more months.
But for Nicola Sturgeon, things have moved very swiftly indeed over the last few days.
Today's events come just over a week after Nicola Sturgeon announced she was to stand down as an MSP.
The ex-SNP leader confirmed she would not seek re-election at the Holyrood election in May next year.
After announcing her decision on social media, she told BBC Scotland News her time in parliament had been a "privilege beyond words".
She added: "But the time is right for me at this stage in my life to close the book on that chapter and open a new one."
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, my name is Rachel. I'm the Scotsman's political correspondent. I'm here in Hollywood
00:05where we've had another very big day in Scottish politics, particularly because it has some
00:09major developments in operation branch form. That's the police investigation into SNP finances.
00:15Police Scotland confirmed earlier today that both Nicola Sturgeon and Colin Beattie, who
00:19was the SNP's former treasurer, have been cleared of the investigation and they're now
00:25no longer under police investigation. The other big development of the day is that Peter
00:28Murrell, who is the former chief executive of the SNP, has a court appearance at Edinburgh
00:33Sheriff Court today and he was released after making no plea. We've heard from both Nicola
00:42Sturgeon and Colin Beattie today on how they're feeling. Let's go and see what Nicola Sturgeon
00:46said first after her announcement at her home, where she said that she felt vindicated and
00:52a lot of relief after being cleared of this investigation.
00:56I was told this morning, at some point, before or after 12pm that I was cleared.
01:02Do you think you'll ever lead the SNP again?
01:05I think the leader of the SNP right now has my full support. I've been able to pursue
01:09things that I enjoy, that I'm passionate about. It wouldn't surprise anybody to hear a lot
01:14of that sort of writing that I've recorded. I'm looking forward to appearing in the Glasgow
01:19Poet Festival this weekend, which is perhaps a bit rash, but there you go.
01:23Do you think you can hold the SNP as well?
01:26I think people are pretty savvy. Of course this will have raised a lot of doubts, but
01:30it's still an ongoing process and I don't want to say anything that gets them in the
01:34way of that. But I think you can see from the SNP's polling right now, I don't want
01:39to say it's an issue of party politics, but I think you can see from the strength of the
01:43SNP's polling right now, that the SNP is still the party that most people rely on,
01:50and I think that is testament to the strength of the party.
01:54If you could sum up how you're feeling today, my wife would be...
01:57Relief, obviously, but this is two words, but maybe a bit of dedication. Thank you.
02:06We also heard from Colin Beattie who has been here in Parliament today, so we heard from
02:10him just shortly about how he is feeling, and he said that he's going to be spending
02:14this evening with his family after a constituency meeting and is definitely going to be raising
02:18a glass with his wife after feeling the relief of being cleared of this investigation.
02:23So let's hear from Colin Beattie.
02:25I knew myself that I'd done nothing wrong, but two years is a long time to be waiting
02:31for the result. It's been a hard time for my family, for my wife and myself, and I still
02:39haven't quite taken it on board, but I've had tremendous support from my constituents,
02:45from my members, and that's been a real help, and even now the messages are pouring in.
02:52My mailbox is blocked from everybody coming in. So I think it's going to be a really good
02:59result for me in terms of we can at least relax and get back to normal family life now.
03:11So you've heard from both of them today, and if you go onto the Scotsman's website you
03:14can see our full coverage of both of those announcements from earlier on today. So just
03:19go onto our website, look at the politics tab, you will see all the details from what happened today.