Findlay stands by ‘corruption’ claim against Lord Advocate in Murrell memo row

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has stood by his claims about Scotland’s top prosecutor after accusing the Lord Advocate of being involved in “corruption”.

He maintained his attack on the law officer despite senior lawyers speaking in support of her.

It emerged earlier in the week that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC had informed the First Minister on January 19 that Peter Murrell – the former SNP chief executive – had been charged with embezzling almost £460,000 from the party.

That was weeks before the indictment was made public.

Opposition parties said the information would have been politically advantageous, with Mr Findlay saying during First Minister’s Questions (FMQs): “The whole sorry mess stinks of corruption.”

Ms Bain has roundly rejected the accusations and said she did not share any information which would have conferred a political advantage.

Mr Findlay spoke to BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, following the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh.

Asked if he would apologise to the Lord Advocate for his claims, he said “absolutely not”, adding: “It’s quite clear in the real world, outwith the political bubble, outwith the legal bubble, this smacks of corruption.”

It was put to the Scottish Tory leader that Roddy Dunlop KC, the dean of the Faculty of Advocates, had described the claims of corruption against the Lord Advocate as “baseless”.

Meanwhile, defence lawyer Thomas Ross KC had said she was “trusted by every practising lawyer and every judge in the country”.

Mr Findlay said he had spoken to KCs who agreed with him “that this thing stinks to high heaven”, but declined to name them.

He said: “This isn’t about an individual’s CV, nobody’s calling that into question.

“This is about the fact the Lord Advocate passed privileged specific information to the SNP Government that was withheld from the paying public.”

The Scottish Tory leader was also pressed on his policy pledge to introduce a two-child cap on the devolved Scottish child payment benefit.

He defended the policy, saying: “The benefits bill is out of control, no other party is being honest with the paying public.”

During FMQs on Thursday, John Swinney stood by the Lord Advocate and praised her as “an outstanding prosecutor”.

The First Minister said he was “disgusted by the way Russell Findlay spoke about her” and urged his opponent to withdraw the remarks.