Nicola Sturgeon will NOT make public the fraud probe statement she made to the police

By CLAIRE ELLIOT, SCOTTISH GENERAL NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:55, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 20:55, 13 July 2026 Nicola Sturgeon will not be releasing the written statement she gave to police probing the SNP’s finances, her lawyer has confirmed. The former First Minister was urged to stop fuelling speculation over what she knew of her estranged husband and ex-party boss Peter Murrell’s plundering of party funds by making public what she told officers. But her lawyer Aamer Anwar said on Monday night that ‘neither Ms Sturgeon’s written statement or her police interview will be released’. It comes despite the Mail previously learning that neither Police Scotland nor the Crown Office had any objection to her publishing her statement. Mr Anwar insisted his client was ‘innocent’ and claimed there was ‘no onus on her’ to prove that in the ‘court of media opinion’. In his latest statement, he said: ‘Ms Sturgeon’s detailed statement produced for Police Scotland was to assist them with their inquiries; not for those who think they could now do a better job than the robust ‘gold-plated’ financial crime investigation. Ms Sturgeon is innocent, as evidenced by the fact that she was not charged, prosecuted nor convicted of any crime.’ Nicola Sturgeon will not make her police statement public The former SNP leader gave a statement to officers investigating the SNP’s funding and finances, which resulted in Murrell being jailed for five years and three months for the embezzlement of more than £400,000. The Mail reported last month how detectives were frustrated when Ms Sturgeon gave a ‘no comment’ interview to police. She then provided a written statement but it emerged that it failed to address all of the points raised – and there were further questions officers would have liked to have asked her. Ms Sturgeon has always insisted that she fully co-operated with the police probe. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon thinks this affair will just go away and the public will move on. But the truth is, there are serious outstanding questions about this SNP scandal and Nicola Sturgeon’s part in it which must be answered.’