THE SNP have demanded the Scottish Tories “come clean” over their relationship with the Scottish Unionist Association Trust (SUAT).
The Electoral Commission has slapped three fines on the group for failing to declare donations made and money received, including a £157,000 gift coming in just before the 2017 General Election.
SNP MP Pete Wishart, who reported the trust to the Electoral Commission last year, said: “The dark money scandal has been lingering around the Scottish Tories like a bad smell and we now know that serious offences have been committed by this shadowy organisation – including a damning indictment by the electoral watchdog that it had consistently failed to provide proper notification of its activities, and as a result, the public did not have the transparency it was entitled to.
“The links between SUAT and the Scottish Tories is at the heart of all of this and we need to know that this will not happen again, and that all further donations will be legal and transparent.
“Many current Tory MPs secured significant donations from SUAT which no doubt assisted them in their election campaigns."
READ MORE: Electoral Commission fines Tory trust over indyref donation
He added: “Political parties cannot continue to treat electoral law as an afterthought and continue to be cavalier with their financial arrangements.
“Electoral legislation is in place to protect the electorate and ensure a level and transparent playing field. All political parties and their donors must abide by the laws.
“Where SUAT will no doubt treat these derisory fines as petty cash I am grateful to the Electoral Commission for its investigation and outcome. We need to clean up Scottish politics and liberate it from 'dark money’. Hopefully this judgement will help that today.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Tories said: "This is a matter for the Scottish Unionist Association Trust.
"As the Electoral Commission states, these donations were properly reported by the Conservative party."
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