Motorhomes and £2k pepper pots: Inside Sturgeon's husband's eye-watering embezzling | The Daily T

It's the scandal to end all scandals.Nicola Sturgeon's estranged husband admits to embezzling over £400 ,000 from the SNP to pay for everything from a bread bin to a motorhome.

But now Nicola Sturgeon herself is under pressure to explain what she knew or didn't know about Peter Murrell's carousel of goodies.

There are questions that she needs to answer because, of course, she benefited from some of this activity with jewellery, makeup.expensive pens.I mean, who on earth has a salt and pepper mill worth two and a half thousand pounds?I mean, it's just extraordinary.And I think that's what is defying people's, you know, understanding of what happened and the scale of the fraud that has been visited on the SNP by the former chief executive.

Tim, you're appropriately in linen.I am.It's good to see.It's far too hot.

It's insanely hot.

It's too hot.

Did you sleep last night?Another Brexit failure.

It's Brexit's fault.

Leave the EU and you get Spanish weather.Makes no sense.

Should you and I open a vineyard somewhere near your place down in the Garden of England?It's not actually Brexit's fault.According to the Conservatives, it's Robert Jenrick's fault.I love this.Conservatives pledged to reverse the air con ban.As Britain swelters in record heat, the Conservatives point the finger at net zero building regulations banning Aircon, devised by then -Conservative Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick in 2021.

The press release goes on to just say it's all Jenrick's fault.

Seemingly forgetting...I'm not sure that's the win that the Conservative Party thinks it is.

Because that would be a Conservative government failure involving Robert Jenrick.

Also, Rob, it seems, is such a player in politics that he wrote all of Tory policy for the last 10 years.

Yes, he likes to distance himself from Tory policy and now he's got into a row by the way with his own comrade Zia Yousaf over deportation.I don't think Yusuf likes the Tories in his midst, does he?

No, I think he'd like to have them renditioned out of the party.

There is tension there.Just out of interest, are you a person who sleeps in a bed with a fan blowing directly onto you?

It's tricky, isn't it?Because on the one hand, I hate the heat.On the other hand, I hate the...Yes...of the fan and the two...

I'm finding that I'm waking up at about half five when the daylight suddenly pours in like a volcano.Sure.So I'm really struggling with sleep at the moment.

Well, we had to have both windows open.We've got, like, the bathroom window and our window to just have a free flow of air.But then it meant that there was a dawn chorus that woke me up.Yes.Then bright...And I had a... eye mask on that was basically strangling me.

Just enough already.

My dog, of course, I lie awake worrying about because I'm thinking is he burning up in there?

He's like sleeping with his legs in the air.

He has his own little room.But every time I go into the room, it's really cool.He's somehow got himself the coolest room in the house.

Maybe you should get into his crate with him.There's still time.I tell you what, It's getting hot for us, but it's getting hot for Nicola Sturgeon, isn't it?

Well, not in Scotland.Actually, it's really cool in Scotland.Someone suggested I go up this week and I kind of wish I had done it, but it's about 24 up there at the moment.

If the trains run.There's a story on the website suggesting that the trains have said, no, enough's enough.It's too hot.It's too hot to drive a train.Yes.And that's why we need to be giving them record -breaking pay rises, according to Mick Lynch, who I interviewed last week.

If you haven't caught it, do catch up because it's very entertaining.Apparently, when you mentioned mass migration, you are, ergo, racist and a bigot.But back to Peter Murrell of the SMP.So this is a bit of a shock, isn't it?It's been rumbling on for years and years.And it's come to a head now that Murrell, aged 61, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement.

And it's nearly half a million quid from the SMP.

400 ,000.a year.and 65 pence.And being Scottish, that 65 pence makes all the difference.We will get letters for that.A top cop.

They're very careful with their pennies.There's nothing wrong with that.Indeed.Let's quote a top cop who said Murrell had diverted the cash from the SNP to, quotes, bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford.He was first arrested in April 2023 as part of Operation Branch Form.

Ridiculous name.

Isn't it?Why don't they have better names, these operations?

She makes me think of the day -to -day.Operation Daisy Bird.

Yes, exactly.Operation Spick and Span.That was the Police Scotland probe into the funding and finances of the SNP.He was charged with embezzlement one year later.And now I think there were fears of a trial exposing all sorts of things.We're not now going to have one because he's pleaded guilty.

A full narrative of facts will be heard in court when the case is called again on June the 2nd.OK, so we get a kind of quasi public investigation or at least some findings because people were worried that without a trial we wouldn't find out more.What did he buy?Good grief, Tim.There's quite a list here.It's like a wedding list.

Yes.

It's like an aristocrat's wedding list.You know when you go along and you're invited to go on the Fortnum & Mason's website and start buying a teapot for 400 quid and you're thinking, hang on a minute, are there any spoons for 20 quid?

The most famous thing, of course, was the Nisman and Bischoff motorhome.Yes.Using £124 ,550 of SNP funds.

Which he famously parked outside his mother's house.

Right, exactly.

I mean, presumably there wasn't enough driveway space at the Sturgeon's.

Right.

So he just kept that out of view, strangely.

So it's really the motorhome that's the famous one.Yes.But what really strikes me about the list is how many of the items on it are quite banal.

Yes.

So they include a Joseph Joseph bread bin, socks, bike tool kit.In fact, I think what we ought to do is we ought to play the generation game.

OK.

So what I'm going to do...

You be Brucey, or would you prefer...What was the other chap called?Are you a Brucey man, or are you the...?

I prefer Larry Grayson.

Of course you do.

Shut that door.

Shut that door!Right, you be Larry Grayson, and I'll be a contestant.Is that what you're proposing?

Yeah, what I'm proposing is, is I read you the list of items... that Peter Murrell bought.And then when I'm done, you tell me how many you can remember and you take home those items that you can recall.Although you'll require a shopping trolley.This is hard.

It's hard.I've got to remember stuff.OK, go on.

A motorhome, a coffee machine, a telescope, a manicure set, a bread bin, a model helicopter, an egg poacher set, the board game Monopoly, a library ladder, a bottle opener, a musical advent calendar, Sherlock Holmes the complete collection, Galway crystal glasses, an electric shaver, a toolbox, a Dyson lamp, Estée Launder candles and a picnic hamper.

Okay ready, motorhome, electric shaver, egg poacher, Sherlock Holmes set, picnic hamper, Toolbox.Yep.Estee Lauder something or other.

Yep.

God, this is hard.This is hard.Something about a lamp.There were some lamps.Pen.Something about a pen.

Producers help.Can anyone remember anything?I've been told they can't help.Gosh, that's hard.There's one more.Come on.

I said shaver.

Yep.

Candle holders.I'm just making stuff up now.

Okay.

What have I missed?

Don't say haggis.If you're going to make things up, don't say haggis.Haggis, time -a -shanta, kilt.I think your time is up.Mull of Kintyre.I know, okay, well done.

No, you've got almost all of them.In fact, because it's so hot, I kind of lost track of what you hadn't said.No, I know.But it was Estée Launder, candles and Galway crystal glasses I don't think you've got.But as I said the striking thing is how they're both really big and really small and a really good example of that is in January 2020 he forked out for two pepper and salt grinders from Lalique that cost him £2 ,618 .16.That is extraordinary.

So that's insanely expensive.But at the same time, he bought a copy of a book for £22 .04 called Women Hold Up Half the Sky.Do you know who that book is by?

Let me hazard a guess.Is it by his wife?

It's by Nicola Sturgeon.Oh my God.

Why is she only holding up half the sky?

He bought...I don't know.Typical woman.

She's doing the job.Half a job.

Can't be bothered to do the whole job.

She just stayed in the kitchen.

They leave it up to the men.

Trying all this politics, Mark.

They leave it up to the men to hold up the other half.Maybe if she wasn't trying to have it all, she could hold up the whole sky.We've got so much to do.We've got rivers to dam, we've got earth to till, and there we are having to help you hold up half the bloody sky.But it's just so funny that he bought his estranged wife's book.Now, I've written books.

Can I just say, I've written books, and my bookshelves are like a thousand copies of my own book, unsold.

Yeah, it's not hard to find one of your own books.You can even sign it for people.In fact, could I please have a signed copy of your book?

Right.

On Hollywood.

We're going to have one of the rare unsigned ones.

Sorry, I'm just looking at Oak Library ladder for a grand.

Yeah.

Men's slouch pouch onesie.The comfortable houseware was billed for 76 quid.

Yeah.Jeez.It's extraordinary, isn't it?But he must have looked good.Four winter coats, £560 from Helly Henson.

Yes.Oh, the world as it is, inside the Obama White House.

And an antique -look book embossing press which allows you to personalise your home library.This one cost £71 .99.

He also had Fascism, a warning by Madeleine Albright.His copy cost £10 .19.

Now, obviously, all this is on Peter Morrill.

Yes.

It's his responsibility.But Camilla, if you came home one day, And you found a motorhome on the drive.

Yes.

You found your husband sitting inside wearing a new winter jacket with his embossing press.

Yes.

His crystal glasses.

Yes.

Playing his new game of Monopoly.

Yes.

With a copy of your book on his lap, which you know you didn't give him.

No.You might be asking questions, mightn't you?You might also be saying, this salt and pepper seller's quite nice.Yes.Looks a bit luxe.Yes.

Oh, it costs two grand.Yes.Is that a good use of the household finances?You may be asking.

You may ask, and we don't want to comment either way, because who knows what Nicola Sturgeon did or did not ask, knew or did not know.But I know, from my own personal experience, if you come home and, you know, like a partis reading a new book, you just say, what's the book?

What's that book you're reading?Shall we read out Nicola Sturgeon's not one, but two statements in response to this?Yes, I think we must.We must, I think.Today, the media is reporting details of items that my former husband has now admitted buying with SMP funds.By the way, they're in the process of divorcing, so he's estranged rather than ex at this stage.

I have seen questions raised about how I could not have known about this.I want to reiterate that I had no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever that personal items had been purchased using SMP funds.I was cleared of any wrongdoing after a lengthy and thorough investigation.In relation to many of the items in question, for example, expensive watches and games consoles, I was not aware of them having been purchased at all.It wasn't her playing Call of Duty.I think we should clarify that right now.

At least not at home.Might have been playing it in the Scottish Parliament.

Or London, where she spends most of her time, it seems.

No, no.Indeed, in relation to the item of largest value, a camper van, I was not aware of its existence until it featured in the police investigation in early 2023.Nor was it parked in our driveway, as being claimed by some.Yes, to be fair, it was parked in her mother -in -law's driveway.

She also said in an Instagram story that she was angry, hurt, sad and very distressed about the impact of his actions on family, friends and the SNP.To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain.Why he acted as he did is, and always will be, beyond my comprehension.

I'd like a bit more understanding.I mean, she talks about comprehension.I'd like to comprehend.precisely why she didn't know any of all this.

I would like to comprehend whether Nicola noticed or did not notice a brand new dressing table and tea set that cost £3 ,190.

Yes, I'd like to know that too.I'd like to know whether she smelt the Estee Lauder cancels.

Yeah, I mean one possible answer is there was a power cut for several months and she was staggering around the house not knowing what it was she was bumping into.

In a tartan dressing gown.But literally, on the candles thing.That's another thing within a house, isn't it?I mean, if I light a candle, which women tend to do, I mean, this is a male thing, presumably, but if I light a candle, then usually my husband starts making a huge fuss.and saying, what's that god -awful smell?

Yeah, start coughing.

And I'm like, this is the candle that I made you buy me at Christmas from the white company for a not inconsiderable sum.And he'll go, bloody argh.It just stinks.The whole house stinks.So it's like a scent in a home is something that you do notice.

Christmas must be very hard, actually, with Peter Murrell, because what do you give the boy who has everything?

Indeed.What do you buy him?Just a little badge with I've got everything written on it, perhaps.So I think we probably do need to know more.We're not going to benefit from a full trial where that would be further investigated, although as Nicola Sturgeon says she was the subject of a lengthy and thorough investigation.And indeed, no wrongdoing was found on her behalf.

But should we speak to somebody who is agitating for this to be looked at in rather more detail?The Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour, Jackie Bailey joins us now.Lovely to see you, Jackie.Tim and I have just been discussing in a generation game format this extraordinary shopping list of Peter Murrell's.What's your reaction to what we've heard about his conduct in the last 24 to 48 hours?

I mean, it is quite extraordinary, but this has been going on for years.And the police investigation, along with the Crown Office,has cost us millions of pounds and taken years before we actually had a day in court for Peter Murrell.court appearance was delayed until after the Scottish Parliament election.And many people are quite rightly asking questions about that, because Peter Murrell declaring himself guilty of embezzling £400 ,000 from the SNP would have made headline news before the election and might well have made a difference.But I think the thing that surprises everybody is the shopping list that you've described.

You know, everything from household goods to jewellery, shopping at Harrods, Fortnum and Mason's.We're talking about high -end shops that would be completely unaffordable to most ordinary people.And what we have here is embezzlement on a grand scale.Now, there are lots of people asking questions about what the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon knew.She, of course, was married to Peter Murrell, and this embezzlement was taking place under her nose both in the party and in her own home.People are suggesting that there are questions that she needs to answer because of course she benefited from some of this activity with jewellery, makeup, expensive pens.

I mean, who on earth has a salt and pepper mill worth two and a half thousand pounds?I mean, it's just extraordinary.And I think that's what is defying people's, you know, understanding of what happened and the scale of the fraud that has been visited on the SNP by the former chief executive.

Jacky, you suggest that the timing has been fortuitous for the SNP because this has come out after the elections.Fair enough.Had it come out before, it may well have had an impact.But the story was broadly known about for a long time.The SNP has many things working against it in its record in Scotland.Why, despite the many years it's been in power, despite its tumbling reputation, why could you still not beat it?

And why did they still do so well?in the recent elections?

Well let me challenge the notion that they did well because actually their vote share dropped by 10%.This was a Scottish Parliament election where turnout was 53 % so 47 % of the country didn't bother to come out and vote and they lost six MSPs.It is the case that Labour didn't do as well as we wanted to do.It was undoubtedly in part due to the fact that the electorate here were unhappy with the UK Labour government and unhappy with the Prime Minister.We've acknowledged that.But equally there were faults in our campaign that we should have adjusted, but the reality is as long as you have constitutional division, that frames your politics, then the floor for the SNP, for those that believe in independence, is always much higher.

That said, if I was an independent supporter today, I would hesitate to donate to the SNP in any shape or form, given that the money they previously donated was embezzled by the Chief Executive.Of course, the Chief Executive, Peter Murrell, was appointed by none other than John Swinney, the current First Minister.And both he and Nicola Sturgeon, when the police started their investigation, were both interviewed on television saying there was nothing to see here, everything was fine with the accounts, and that turned out to be patently not true.So there are questions that need to be answered, both by the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the currentone, John Swinney.

How could that happen, Jackie?Because now Peter Murrell has given a guilty plea, we obviously won't have the forensic process that would have occurred in a trial, picking through the evidence and trying to find out who knew what when, or indeed what they didn't know.How could the system sort of coalesce to try and get further answers from both Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney and any other associated parties?

Well I think Parliament needs to consider its options but equally there are calls already for inquiries and questions requiring answers.So far we've not been satisfied with that.The press have been diligent in pursuing this and of course we couldn't talk about it in advance of the election whilst there were live proceedings in the courts.Now next week there is a narrative that will be presented by both the Crown Office and the Defence to try and explain and understand why Peter Murrell did what he did.I think that following that people will consider what to do next.This is by no means the end of the story, it's the beginning of trying to make the SNP, which is known in Scotland for its scandal, its sleaze and its secrecy, to finally have a bit of truth and honesty because not least, it's not just the Scottish public deserve it, those individuals who donated money to the SNP deserve to have answers, and I believe they should be compensated for the amount that they put in.

But I keep coming back, Jackie, to my point that if this party is known for its scandal and its sleaze, why is it still outperforming you?To put it another way, why is the case for the Union apparently so weak that people are still supporting parties, either the SNP, which is tainted byscandal, or the Green Party, which is run by lunatics, rather than coalescing around perfectly sane, moderate mainstream parties such as yourself.

I think you'll find in constituencies across Scotland that did in fact happen.In my own, for example, which I have served in since 1999.There is a coalition of voters that has been built up that are actually anti the SNP and anti -independence.The reality is that needs to happen in more constituencies across Scotland, but the truth is, as I said before, the SNP didn't do well.This is their lowest vote share in government for a long time and it's delivered six fewer MSPs and it's delivered a 10 % drop in their vote.On a 50 % turnout, I don't really think that's much of a mandate, to be frank with you.

But yes, you're right.

We could do better.But Jackie, you didn't excite people to come out on your side.A low turnout is a vote of no confidence, not just in the governing party, but also in the opposition.

And I think what we were finding was people were scummed with politicians and with politics.And this was a general kind of, we don't like any of you.So I think that there is some merit in what you say that we all failed to excite them.But the reality is the stakes were genuinely high.We are now about to debate this afternoon whether to have a second independence referendum rather than focusing on the people's priorities of tackling the cost of living crisis or dealing with the NHS.You know, that's the problem when you elect a nationalist government.

They put their party before the country's interests.And that's what we're about to see this afternoon.

Jackie Bailey, Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour, thank you for joining us on today's Daily Tea.

Thank you.If you're enjoying our journalism, why not sign up to From the Editor, our free email newsletter.Start your day with the latest news and opinion, plus our bite -sized puzzles.Scan the QR code to sign up free today.