MP admits conduct ‘fell south’ of that expected of a government minister

Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael will continue to give evidence at the Election Court sitting in Edinburgh today.

Yesterday, on the first day of proceedings, the former Scottish Secretary told the court that he didn’t tell a cabinet office probe about how the Daily Telegraph acquired a confidential memo until May 12, 2015.

Mr Carmichael said he gave the go ahead to his special advisor, Euan Roddin, to leak the document to a Daily Telegraph journalist on a flight between Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands.

But when the document was used as the basis of a story, on April 3, 2015, which alleged Nicola Sturgeon wanted David Cameron to win this year’s general election, government watchdogs launched a probe.

Mr Carmichael told lawyer Jonathan Mitchell QC that he thought he could be “less than fully truthful” when he was quizzed by civil servants. He said that because Mr Roddin released the document, he could have avoided telling any lies to the inquiry.

He added: “I thought I could have truthfully said I didn’t leak it.”

The Orkney and Shetland MP told Mr Mitchell, who represents four Orkney constituents, that his conduct “fell south” of that expected of a government minister.

Mr Carmichael said that he thought the government probe wouldn’t uncover the truth of how the Telegraph came into possession of the document.

But Mr Carmichael said he decided to reveal his role in the process after becoming concerned about his special advisor’s wellbeing, following the election.

Earlier in the day, the former leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats described the legal proceedings brought against Mr Carmichael as a “political show trial”.

Tavish Scott MSP told the court that the case against Mr Carmichael is being funded by SNP activists who want to eliminate opposition to the nationalist agenda.

Mr Scott, 49, made the claim while giving evidence to advocate Jonathan Mitchell QC.

The lawyer has been instructed by four Orkney constituents, who want to see Mr Carmichael removed from the House of Commons over an untruthful statement he made to Channel 4 News during this year’s general election campaign.

They believe that Mr Carmichael breached the Representation of the Peoples Act over the leaked Scottish Office memo, which formed the basis of the Daily Telegraph story.

The constituents who brought the petition, Timothy Morrison, Phemie Matheson, Fiona Grahame and Carolyn Welling, all of Orkney, were aided by crowd funding, maintain that Mr Carmichael’s pre-election statement on when he first became aware of the memo leak broke electoral law.

The constituents argue that his statement to Channel 4 news about when he became aware of the memo, was untruthful and breached the Representation of the Peoples Act.  The legislation states that a person will be guilty of an illegal practice if before or during an election, for the purpose of affecting the return of a candidate, they make or publish a false statement of fact over a candidate’s personal character or behaviour.

The court also heard evidence from Fiona Grahame, one of the constituents who brought the case to court.

She told the court that she respected Mr Carmichael but that she felt “shocked” when the truth about the circumstances of the leak became known.

She said: “It was hard to get your head around. I can’t understand why somebody who you trusted and respected so much – and who had an important position in Scotland as well – could lie to the people of Orkney and Shetland.”

Mr Carmichael denies any wrong doing.

The hearing before judges Lord Matthews and Lady Paton continues.