Police Examine Claim of Missing £1.5m From Yes Scotland
Police Scotland is making inquiries after a complaint that around £1.5m raised by Yes Scotland, the official vehicle of the 2014 independence campaign, is unaccounted for. A former SNP branch secretary meets detectives this week with a dossier alleging anomalies in the company’s accounts. Figures from the campaign deny the claim and insist all money has been accounted for; the matter is at the inquiry stage rather than a formal investigation.
The echo is unavoidable: Operation Branchform’s long shadow over SNP finances did lasting damage to the independence movement’s standing, and a fresh police examination touching the 2014 campaign itself — however preliminary — reopens the theme just as the movement tries to regroup under a new UK government it hopes will be more amenable to constitutional talks. The distinction between inquiries and investigation matters legally but rarely survives politically. Watch what Police Scotland says after this week’s meeting, and whether the Electoral Commission takes an interest in the decade-old accounts.