Nicola Sturgeon was under increasing pressure to quit the SNP on Monday after a leaked video showed her apparently attempting to shut down scrutiny of the party’s finances.
The former Scottish First Minister will be staying away from Holyrood this week, the party confirmed, after a video of her playing down worries about money troubles emerged.
The footage, obtained by the Daily Record, is said to have been recorded at a meeting of the party's ruling body in March 2021 - just days before police began investigating complaints about party finances.
An activist raised concerns that nearly £667,000 earmarked for a future Scottish independence campaign may have been used for other purposes.
In the meeting, then SNP leader Ms Sturgeon told National Executive Committee members that the party's finances had "never been stronger" and made warnings about the impact on donors of going public with any concerns.
She said officials should be “very careful” about suggesting there were “any problems” with party accounts.
The revelations drag Ms Sturgeon deeper into the scandal engulfing her party after her successor Humza Yousaf was forced to deny the party was “close to bankruptcy” following a stark warning delivered by its treasurer.
Scottish Tories led calls for Ms Sturgeon to be suspended, while Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the country's political priorities were "playing second fiddle" to the "terminal SNP soap opera".
The suggestion was rejected by the SNP's former Westminster leader Ian Blackford - a key Sturgeon ally.
"Goodness gracious, absolutely not, there's no reason for that at all," he told BBC Radio Scotland on Monday when asked if the Ms Sturgeon should be sanctioned.
"I think that's some of our opponents politicking, really, in this context."
Mr Blackford said there was "nothing which was in any way untoward" in the video, adding: "What the (former) First Minister was reflecting on was the ability of the SNP to conduct itself as an organisation, having the financial resources in order to fight elections and to support its members."
Ms Sturgeon announced her shock resignation as leader in February,
Earlier this month her husband, Peter Murrell, was arrested as part of a long-running police investigation into SNP finances and detectives raided the couple's home. He was released without charge, pending further investigation.
A spokeswoman for Ms Sturgeon said on Monday: "In order to ensure the focus of this week is on the new First Minister setting out his priorities for the people of Scotland, Ms Sturgeon has always intended to participate remotely and intends to return to Holyrood in the near future."
