Murray Foote quits accusing party HQ of giving him false information

Murray Foote’s departure adds to the pressure on SNP chief executive Peter Murrell to apologise over the scandal – and possibly resign himself, reports our sister title The Herald.

In an explosive statement, Mr Foote, a former editor of the Daily Record who joined the SNP operation three years ago, said he was resigning after being let down by party HQ while “acting in good faith”. 

He said information he relayed on behalf of SNP HQ had proven to have “serious issues” and had “created a serious impediment to my role”.

Last month, he issued “agreed party responses” to the media trashing a newspaper report that the party had suffered a loss of 30,000 members.

This week, the party admitted its membership was indeed more than 30,000 below its previously published figure.

In light of recent events, a brief update from me: pic.twitter.com/gSwuGjYgLD

— Murray Foote (@murrayf00te) March 17, 2023

It led to calls for Mr Murrell to apologise to the journalist whose accurate report had been discredited, and gravely undermined Mr Foote’s ability to command trust among journalists.

In a statement tonight, Mr Foote said: “Acting in good faith and as a courtesy to colleagues at party HQ, I issued agreed party responses to media enquiries regarding membership. It has subsequently become apparent there are serious issues with these responses.

“Consequently, I concluded this created a serious impediment to my role and I resigned my position with the SNP Group at Holyrood.”