SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY MSP, Colin Beattie, will step down as the party’s treasurer after he was arrested in connection with a police investigation into the party’s finances yesterday, he has said.

In a statement released through the party, Beattie also confirmed he will be “stepping back” from his role on Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee until the probe has concluded.

Beattie said, “This afternoon I informed the party leader that I will be stepping back from my role as SNP national treasurer with immediate effect.

Beattie said that the decision “wasn’t easy, but it is the right decision to avoid” distracting leader of the party  Humza Yousaf , who Beattie claims is trying to “improve the SNP’s governance and transparency”.

“I will continue to co-operate fully with Police Scotland’s inquiries and it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further on a live case,” Beattie added.

Beattie also sits on the Scottish Commission for Public Audit – a body which scrutinises watchdog Audit Scotland and, among other responsibilities, is tasked with “appointing a qualified person to audit the accounts of Audit Scotland”.

It is understood a decision on his membership of the body will be made closer to its next meeting.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the decision to step aside as treasurer is right, but was taken “by the wrong man”  and accused the party leader of “playing for time”.

Beattie stepped down hours after Deputy First Minister Shona Robison said it is “frustrating” that the controversy around the SNP has overshadowed First Minister Yousaf’s first major parliamentary speech.

The First Minister aimed to set out a “fresh start” today, as he detailed the Scottish Government’s priorities for the next three years.

Police Scotland are investigating how more than £600,000 (over €680,000) of SNP donations earmarked for independence campaigning was spent. 

During a visit to Dear Green Coffee Roasters in Glasgow today, Robinson said, “Of course it is frustrating that we are not able to talk as much as we would like about the priorities that were set out in the prospectus yesterday, and I think households and people who are struggling with inflation figures today, who are struggling with the cost of things… will want to know what we as a Government are doing.

“Although the public will expect the SNP to get its own house in order, they also expect us as a Government to help their households with the cost-of-living pressures.”

Earlier this month, former party chief executive Peter Murrell was arrested and questioned for more than 11 hours before being released pending further investigation.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s “Good Morning Scotland” this morning, Robison said decisive action is “absolutely critical” and that going forward the governance of the party needs to be “absolutely about transparency, openness”.

She declined to comment on whether former first minister Nicola Sturgeon might be arrested, but said she does not know if the ex-leader has spoken to police.

Yousaf also confirmed delays to the introduction of the National Care Service and the deposit return scheme.

Robison said, “We need to wait for the facts to be established, whether that’s through the ongoing police investigation and of course the review about how the party is managed, and that of course is really, really important not just to reassure party members, but it is important that the public expect us to get our own house in order, while also focusing as a Government on supporting their households through the cost-of-living crisis.”

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said the SNP are “in complete meltdown” and distracted from the priorities in the country.

“Only the Scottish Conservatives are focused on those real priorities, like the cost-of-living crisis, fixing our NHS and strengthening the economy,” he added.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said, “We are in the ridiculous situation where the First Minister cannot categorically state that his party isn’t a criminal organisation.

“It’s hard to get your house in order when it’s been blown to smithereens.”