CLEARED former MP Michelle Thomson has called on the SNP leadership, and the BBC, to issue an apology for the way she was treated during a police investigation into alleged mortgage fraud.
Speaking to the BBC’s Nick Eardley on yesterday’s Good Morning Scotland, Thomson said the SNP hierarchy gave her no support following alleged irregularities relating to property transactions.
Thomson further expressed her disappointment at the media, including a BBC headline, which continually linked her to the alleged fraud even though the investigation was into solicitor Christopher Hales and not her. She added that such inaccuracies “contribute to a considerable diminution in trust in the BBC”.
The former Edinburgh West MP has always denied any wrongdoing, and spoke of her relief at being “completely exonerated” after Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service last week said there would be no criminal proceedings brought against her.
Thomson was one of five people named in a report sent to prosecutors last December following a police investigation. She resigned the party whip when the inquiry was launched, though said it was “a case of go or be pushed”.
She was linked to deals with Hales, a solicitor who was struck off for professional misconduct involving transactions in 2010 and 2011, and of taking advantage of vulnerable families.
“I suppose what I found disturbing was that I had no opportunity whatsoever to speak directly with Nicola Sturgeon and put across some of the key points,” she said.
When asked who should issue her an apology, she responded: “I would say the leader of the party.
“Certainly somebody very senior. Yes, I would greatly welcome that.”
Thomson then turned her attention to the media, singling out the BBC for a headline it ran at the time the story broke. And while the coverage of the Chilcot Report ran for only two days, she said, the reporting of the story involving her ran for two months.
She was specifically disappointed with the headline, which read “Fraud case into former MP Michelle Thomson”.
“It wasn’t a case, and it wasn’t into Michelle Thomson,” she said.
“That is not even misleading, it’s quite simply wrong. Even the police, I believe, became frustrated and came out and said ‘No, it’s an investigation into the solicitor’. I had to pay a lawyer to get retractions from quite a number of papers.”
Eardley responded that the word “case” was a catch-all term for investigations. Thomson accepted this but remained perturbed by the insinuation it was her that was being investigated, adding that such headlines from the broadcaster “contribute to a considerable diminution in trust in the BBC”.
Eardley said that he was not in a position to apologise.
Responding to Thomson’s comments, an SNP spokesperson said: “Michelle Thomson stepped down in 2015 until the investigation was concluded. She took a dignified approach while the investigation was underway and will be relieved to put this affair behind her.
“We wish her well for the future and will be happy to engage with her about her membership of the SNP.”
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