Nicola Sturgeon tried to destroy Alex Salmond’s reputation to stop him uncovering her husband’s embezzlement of SNP funds, MPs were told on Thursday. Sir David Davis, the senior Conservative MP, used parliamentary privilege to allege that the former first minister “knew full well” that Peter Murrell had been stealing from the party. Murrell was sentenced last month to five years in prison after admitting embezzling £400,310.65 between August 2010 and October 2022, including £124,550 for a motorhome.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Sir David said Sturgeon’s “most evil act was stitching up Alex Salmond to hide the truth” about Murrell’s crimes. He claimed that when Salmond considered joining the SNP’s ruling national executive committee, Sturgeon and her “conspirators” moved against him, fearing he would reveal the theft. Salmond, a “numerate man who could not be silenced”, posed a “clear” risk, Sir David said.
“David Davis accuses Sturgeon of destroying Salmond to hide Murrell's embezzlement in Commons speech.”
“There was a malicious and concerted attempt to remove him from public life with sexual misconduct allegations,” Sir David told MPs. Salmond faced multiple allegations in 2018 but was acquitted of all charges in 2020. “It now appears clear that these actions to destroy a man’s reputation and life were motivated by a desire to hide their own crimes,” Sir David added. He claimed the alleged cover-up had “cost Alex Salmond his life”; the former first minister died of a heart attack in 2024.
Sir David also alleged that Murrell had insisted some items be removed from the charge sheet, including female underwear, because they “incriminated” Sturgeon. He said the decision by Scotland’s Crown Office prosecution service to agree to this as part of a plea deal was a “clear conflict of interest”. The Lord Advocate, Scotland’s chief prosecutor, is also the Scottish government’s most senior legal adviser, though Ruth Charteris KC and her predecessor Dorothy Bain KC have said they recused themselves from all decisions about the case.
In response, Sturgeon accused Sir David of being part of an “Old Boys Club” that was “telling more lies about me” and of hiding “like a coward behind the legal privilege of Westminster”. MPs are protected in the Commons by absolute privilege, meaning they cannot be sued for defamation for statements made there.
The claims mark a dramatic escalation in the long-running fallout from Murrell’s embezzlement, but with Salmond dead and Sturgeon denying the allegations, the truth may never be tested in court.
