A MOTORHOME which was reportedly seized by police amid an investigation into SNP finances was intended to be a bus used for campaigning.

The Daily Record reports that the £110,000 campervan was earmarked for the SNP Holyrood election campaign in 2021 although was never used until after Covid restrictions were lifted.

Reports in the Mail on Sunday last week suggested that a Niesmann+Bischoff motorhome was taken from outside the Dunfermline house of Peter Murrell’s mother.

The SNP’s former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon’s husband was arrested last week but later released without charge.

READ MORE: SNP finance probe: Police seize luxury campervan in Fife

A SNP source told the Daily Record that Covid rules had been up in the air when the motorhome was bought and that the party saw it as an option for campaigning depending on what restrictions were.

They said: “The campervan was about trying to have an ability to campaign while complying with the rules. It would have acted as a mobile campaign room.

“It would mean not having a need for hotels and minimise mixing.”
One party insider also told the paper that the campervan was “not a great idea”.

Speaking at an event in Leith on Tuesday, Humza Yousaf was asked about the campervan, although he said that he was “not going to comment on a live police investigation”.

The investigation into party finances has led to criticism from other parties across Scotland.

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the SNP are “testing the credulity of the people of Scotland to the extreme”.

An SNP spokesperson said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on any live police investigation. The SNP has been cooperating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so.”