STEPHEN Flynn has joked that the SNP’s impounded campervan should be used by the Tartan Army during this summer’s Euros.
On Friday, STV political editor Colin Mackay reported that senior figures in the party were calling on the £110,000 campervan to be handed back after it was taken by police almost a year ago.
It was seized from the Fife home of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell’s mother on April 6 as part of the ongoing police investigation into the party’s finances.
The SNP have previously said the vehicle was bought in 2021 for use in the Holyrood election but ended up parked in Murrell’s mother’s driveway.
Now, some within the party want it back ahead of the upcoming General Election campaign.
“With an election this year,” Mackay said.
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“Some senior figures in the SNP want the campervan back – either to use during the campaign or to sell, to help raise funds for that”.
Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, was then asked by journalists during an SNP event in Perth whether he would like to see the campervan back in the hands of the party.
“Look, hotels in Germany for the Euros are going to be really expensive,” said Flynn.
“So, if there’s a campervan that I and thousands of other Scotland fans can crash in that’s available, then I’m sure that will be a delight for the Tartan Army.”
When asked by a journalist if it would be embarrassing to use the campervan due to its connections with the police investigation, Flynn joked that covering it in a Saltire would solve the problem.
“Not if you deck it out in a Saltire, take it over to Germany,” he added.
“I’m sure the Tartan Army would love it.”
Last year, former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, her husband Murrell, and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie were all arrested and released without charge as part of the police’s investigation into the party’s finances known as Operation Branchform.
Operation Branchform was initially launched after concerns were raised about the use of £600,000 of fundraised cash earmarked by the party for use in a second independence referendum campaign.
However, police say the investigation has since “moved beyond” this remit.
Last month, a Freedom of Information request revealed that Police Scotland has so far spent more than £1.3 million on the probe.
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