An SNP MP has been linked to an allegation that tens of thousands of pounds in donations may be missing from the prominent pro-independence campaign group she helped to set up.



Questions have been raised about the role played by Natalie McGarry, the Scottish National party MP for Glasgow East, after Women for Independence (WFI) contacted the police on Sunday night because they believed substantial amounts were missing from the group’s donation income.

The Guardian understands it has been alleged that McGarry was the only person with access to the PayPal account used by WFI to collect the donations and from which it is believed the alleged discrepancies have arisen.



Police Scotland confirmed the matter was under investigation but said that it could give no further information. McGarry has not responded to detailed questions posed by the Guardian.

However, in a statement released on her behalf on Monday evening, her lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said: “Natalie McGarry MP is aware that suggestions of reported discrepancies in the accounts of Women for Independence have been passed to Police Scotland. This morning I contacted Police Scotland at Natalie’s request to advise them that she is ready to meet with them should they wish to.

“Accordingly I have advised Natalie that it would be inappropriate to make any further comment until the conclusion of that inquiry, other than to state that she is certain that there has been no wrongdoing on her part.”

An SNP spokesperson said: “The SNP are aware of reported discrepancies in the accounts of Women for Independence. However, we have yet to see the detail behind these claims.”

WFI was founded in 2012 by a group of activists including McGarry with the intention of promoting women’s voices across the referendum debate. The group’s national committee, on which McGarry sits, was informed of the alleged discrepancies at a meeting on Sunday afternoon. She was not present.

In an email sent to members on Sunday evening, the organisation spoke of its disappointment that “we now have reason to believe that trust may have been abused”.

It continued: “Following concerns being raised, and painstaking efforts to ensure we have gathered extensive and accurate information, we have been placed in the position of having no choice but to ask the police to help us.

“We have passed the information we have been able to gather to the police and as a result there is now a live investigation. We know you will understand that, in the interest of due process and justice, that limits what we can say.

“But what we can say is that following our first AGM in March and the adoption of our constitution and robust and appropriate systems, concerns emerged in late summer regarding financial probity. For several weeks now we have been examining the finances of the organisation for the last financial year, 2014-15.

“We have identified an apparent discrepancy between our donation income and the expenditure which we currently have evidence of. We have exhausted all opportunities of obtaining adequate evidence or explanation to account for this discrepancy.”

McGarry, who has described SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon as a role model and campaigned for her in Glasgow’s south side, first rose to prominence in the party when she fought and lost a bruising by-election in Cowdenbeath at the start of 2014. During the referendum campaign she was a regular critic of sexist abuse online and became a well-regarded advocate for women’s concerns. Her selection to contest the key Labour/SNP battleground of Glasgow East marked her out as one the party’s most promising new candidates.

McGarry, who previously worked in the public sector, was elected MP for Glasgow East in May, overturning the then shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran’s 11,840 majority and becoming one of 56 SNP MPs returned to Westminster in a landslide victory for the party. She was later appointed shadow spokesperson on disabilities.

That number has since been reduced to 55, after Michelle Thomson stood down as SNP business spokeswoman and withdrew from the party whip at Westminster when it emerged that Police Scotland was investigating 13 property deals to which she was linked. Thomson has denied any wrongdoing.

Since the referendum, WFI has carved out a permanent position in Scottish civic society, campaigning on a range of issues, including successfully opposing the building of a women’s super-prison earlier this year. It now has 51 affiliated groups across Scotland, many of which are working on refugee rights and food poverty.