Complaint claims missing funds from Scotland independence campaign group

Police Scotland has received a complaint over Yes Scotland Ltd as former SNP branch secretary David Henry prepares to hand detectives a dossier alleging “anomalies” in the campaign company’s books. The claim centres on £1,524,998 in income raised for the official pro-independence operation in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, money now being described as unaccounted for.

Yes Scotland rejected the allegation and said all money was accounted for. Police Scotland said only that it had received a complaint and that inquiries were ongoing, leaving the force to examine a challenge to the finances of one of the most prominent campaign vehicles in recent Scottish politics.

Yes Scotland Ltd was the official campaign company for the independence referendum and one of the two designated lead campaigners during the regulated referendum period that began on 30 May 2014. The campaign was launched after the Edinburgh Agreement of 15 October 2012 to back a Yes vote in the ballot held on 18 September 2014.

The figures from that contest show why the complaint has sharpened attention. The Electoral Commission recorded that Yes Scotland spent £1,420,800, almost exactly matching Better Together’s £1,422,602. Across all 42 registered campaigners, the commission said spending totalled £6,664,980, while donations and loans reached £7,318,545.

Turnout in the referendum reached 84.6%, and Scotland voted No. That result has helped keep the referendum’s finances under scrutiny, because the campaign remains a defining event in the constitutional debate and any allegation of missing funds touches directly on the integrity of the movement that sought statehood.

The complaint is also being viewed against the backdrop of the separate SNP finance scandal known as Operation Branchform, which led to the investigation of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell and his embezzlement from the party. The overlap has intensified questions about recordkeeping, oversight and accountability across the wider independence movement, even though the Yes Scotland allegation is a distinct matter.

With police inquiries continuing, the records already in the public domain set out the scale of the 2014 campaign and the spending rules that governed it. Yes Scotland’s published return, Better Together’s return and the Electoral Commission’s totals now form the backdrop for a complaint that could put the movement’s financial controls back under the spotlight.