Suspended SNP MP Natalie McGarry has given her party leader a vehement assurance that she is not guilty of any wrongdoing as police investigations continue into missing donations from the pro-independence group she founded.
Ms McGarry, who has withdrawn from the SNP whip, “is absolutely adamant that she is not guilty of any wrongdoing” in connection with the cash missing from the accounts of Women For Independence, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon told journalists during a briefing at her Edinburgh residence.
Ms Sturgeon also confirmed that Michelle Thomson, who has also resigned the SNP whip amid police investigations into her property business, remains suspended after she was seen sitting with the SNP group at Westminster.
Ms McGarry and Ms Thomson were seen hugging in the doorway to the Commons chamber during a vote on Trident renewal last week, shortly before Ms McGarry withdrew from the SNP whip.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Natalie McGarry is vehement when she states that she is not guilty of any wrongdoing.
“She is, as anyone else would in similar circumstances, entitled to that presumption of innocence.
“I have had a conversation with Natalie, as you would expect me to have had, over the course of a number of days and she is absolutely adamant that she is not guilty of any wrongdoing.”
She added: “To this day I don’t know the detail of the allegations that have been passed by Women For Independence to the police.
“Obviously I have read various accounts of the details of those allegations in various newspapers, but I have not and the SNP has not seen any documentary evidence of those allegations.
“As we have said already, for a period of weeks we have had a general awareness of the fact that there were concerns about Women For Independence accounts, and that those concerns were being looked into.
“But at no point have we had any detailed information that would have enabled us to take any action.
“Obviously these allegations have now been passed to the police, and I think it is appropriate now that police investigation is allowed to take its course.”
She continued: “Michelle Thomson is not currently part of the SNP group or part of the SNP.
“Most people who know anything about the House of Commons know that there aren’t enough seats for all of the MPs that are elected to that chamber, so to start to be particularly choosy about where people sit would lead to significant problems – although we did have some issues with that at the start of the parliamentary term.”
SNP MPs provoked outrage from their opponents when they occupied the seats normally reserved for the official opposition following the general election in May.