HUMZA Yousaf has said he will not suspend Nicola Sturgeon from the SNP following her arrest and questioning by police in the ongoing investigation into the party finances.

The former first minister was quizzed by detectives yesterday as part of the same Operation Branchform, investigation that saw the party’s former chief executive, Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell, and Colin Beattie, ex-SNP treasurer, also arrested in recent months.

Sturgeon, like Murrell and Beattie, was released without charge and the police said the investigation continues.

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Yousaf had been under pressure from opposition politicians to suspend Sturgeon from the SNP.

Since stepping down as first minister, she remains the SNP MSP for Glasgow Southside.

Speaking to STV news today, Yousaf said there is no reason for her to be suspended.

Yousaf said: “No, I won’t be suspending Nicola Sturgeon. I’ll be treating her in exactly the same way as I treated Colin Beattie, both released without charge and therefore there’s no reason for me to suspend them.

“It’s been pretty personally painful, if I’m honest.

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“I think people know and have heard me talk about my personal friendship, my admiration, for Nicola Sturgeon, so I know how difficult a day it would have been, not just for her but the entire party and for the SNP, and as I say, for many of us personally.

“But I’ve got to separate out that personal, or those personal feelings I may be feeling, with the job not just as SNP leader but importantly as First Minister and that’s why, of course, as you’d expect, I couldn’t comment on a live police investigation.”