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Nigel Farage wants to buy the campervan jailed former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell bought with SNP cash, the Sunday Mail can reveal. Reform representatives have made inquiries in the hope of finding out if and when the vehicle will be auctioned off by police. They want to use it to tour Scotland on the campaign trail for next year’s local elections where Farage and his Scottish leader Malcolm Offord are hoping to pick up hundreds of council seats. A source said: “They would love to get their hands on it and initial calls have been made by Reform. The campervan has gained an almost mythical status now as a symbol of corruption and hubris. “ Reform want to use it as a campaign vehicle to ram home the idea of SNP rot - it would be pure political theatre. It is a six year old second hand vehicle and the SNP themselves have valued it at £41,000 in their accounts, a fraction of the £124,000 it cost to buy. “But valuers have said it could fetch far more at auction given its now notorious status, and believe hundreds of thousands is not out of the question. It is still unclear exactly what will happen with the proceeds from any sale but the likelyhood is there will be a police auction in due course to dispose of it.” Yesterday Offord addressed his party’s conference in Birmingham where he ridiculed the SNP over the “ Murrell Collection” of stolen goods. However Scottish Labour acting leader Jackie Baillie dismissed the bid to buy the camper van as a stunt to deflect from Reform’s own murky finances. She said: “Whether it’s bought with a stolen SNP credit card or Reform’s dodgy donations, this campervan seems to keep winding up in the wrong hands. With questions piling up about Reform’s murky finances, it’s no wonder they want to try and deflect attention to another party embroiled in scandal and sleaze - but the truth is Reform and the SNP are both letting Scots down.” Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP David Green added: “The question is, where would Reform be getting the money for this?” Reform and Farage are embroiled in multiple allegations of sleaze and financial impropriety. Last week Channel 4 News broadcast footage in which James Orr, the party’s head of policy, and Dan Jukes, a close aide to Farage, appear to discuss circumventing electoral law to secure foreign donations. Farage was present during a conversation in which it is suggested a US donor gives £500,000 to Reform through his UK-based son. Jukes and Orr have both stood down pending an internal probe despite Farage insisting his party had “broken no law”. Under electoral law, donors to UK political parties must be a UK registered voter, or a company registered in the UK, so cannot give money from abroad through a British resident. The proposed donation was never made as it was part of an undercover sting and Farage has claimed he “wasn’t listening” during the conversation. The Clacton MP is also facing a standards probe over £5million he accepted from a crypto billionaire. Scottish Conservative deputy leader, Rachael Hamilton MSP said: “Given Nigel Farage has already had 5 million questions hanging over him, it’s no surprise Reform are eyeing up the SNP’s camper van. They clearly think there’s no better campaign vehicle than one with its own history of financial controversy. After all, when your fundraising is making headlines for all the wrong reasons, why not add Peter Murrell’s old camper van to the fleet?” Former SNP chief executive Murrell was jailed in June for five years and three months after admitting embezzling £400,000 from his own party, with the luxury Niesmann and Bischoff vehicle his most expensive purchase. The van, bought in late 2020, was initially claimed to have been purchased to be used as a campaigning tool. The vehicle only has four miles on the clock after being picked up in Rosyth, Fife, and taken to the home of Murrell’s mother in Dunfermline, where it was parked until being seized by police. Murrell’s estranged wife and former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly insisted she was unaware of its existence despite having been at the house where it was parked. Murrell, 61, used SNP funds to buy goods ranging from cars and kitchenware to luxury pens, coffee machines, watches and toiletries. In court judge Lord Young said he had carried out a “calculated crime of dishonesty”, while being unable to identify a clear motive. Sturgeon has claimed she was “deceived” by her husband and has refused to apologise despite having been SNP leader with ultimate responsibility for the party while the fraud took place. She had been photographed wearing jewellery and using luxury pens bought by Murrell. A recording leaked to the Sunday Mail in 2021 showed Sturgeon warning senior SNP members to be “very careful” about suggesting there were any problems with the party’s finances. The same year we revealed Police Scotland had launched an investigation into the party’s finances amid concerns over the whereabouts of £667,000 raised for a second independence referendum campaign. Officers initially looked into those claims but controversially concluded there had been no criminality in relation to the funds which were supposed to be “ringfenced” for Indyref 2. However they went on to uncover Murrell’s long campaign of embezzlement. He used charge cards, bank transfers and fake invoices to illicitly purchase hundreds of items over a decade. In court Murrell’s lawyers described his client as having an “overwhelmed by feelings of embarrassment and shame” and faced a “bleak and solitary” future. He was first arrested in April 2023, a few weeks after resigning when it became clear he lied to deny our exclusive report revealing 30,000 members leaving the SNP. Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE
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