Wings Over Scotland

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie – a man who was at the heart of the “MemoGate” smear, quoted prominently in almost all the media coverage of the untrue slur against Nicola Sturgeon – has offered the opinion that former Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael deserves a “second chance” after admitting being behind the fabricated story and then brazenly lying about it on national TV.

We agree with Mr Rennie.

We believe that Mr Carmichael deserves a second chance to be elected, but this time honestly. The only way that can happen is if he is removed as an MP and given the opportunity to present himself to the electorate again in the light of the revelations. If the voters of Orkney & Shetland weigh up all the facts and conclude that on balance Alistair Carmichael should continue to represent them in Parliament, fair enough.

We therefore draw readers’ attention to the above campaign which has been launched by some of Mr Carmichael’s constituents, which seeks to raise the money required to issue a legal challenge to his election as an MP earlier this month, on the grounds that his narrow 817-vote victory was gained on the basis of lying to voters and covering up that lie until after the election, which may constitute an offence under the Representation of the People Act 1983.

The campaign requires just £6,000 to file the complaint, with the rest of the target sum being set against possible costs. Any unused funds will be donated to charity.

The former Liberal Democrat MP (and also the party’s former Scottish leader, and until just a few weeks ago its UK deputy leader) Sir Malcolm Bruce gave an extraordinary interview to Radio 4’s Today programme this morning about Alistair Carmichael.

The whole thing can be heard here, but the short passage below stood out even in the context of a breathless, furious, scattergun performance that sounded like a man on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

(Today, BBC Radio 4, 26 May 2015)
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We’re sure readers will be greatly comforted by the fact that it’s okay for the Secretary of State for Scotland to tell a “brazen lie”, on the grounds that everyone else in the Houses Of Parliament is a liar too, and by the notion that a government minister who’s caught lying to the nation in order to undermine the democratically-elected leader of Scotland is an offence for which the culprit can simply decide their own punishment.

We thought you should hear this extraordinary interview with Alistair Carmicheal from BBC Radio Orkney this morning.

(Around Orkney, BBC Radio Orkney, 25 May 2015)
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The former Scottish Secretary’s excuse for lying on air is a feeble, Hothersall-esque semantic dodge, and his excuse for not resigning is that his years of service as a constituency MP ought to outweigh the fact that a UK government minister abused his office and lied to the public in order to undermine the democratically-elected leader of Scotland and cling on to his own job.

Having now heard the case for the defence, readers can reach their own verdicts.

Alistair Carmichael on Channel 4 News a few weeks ago:

Now at least we know why he was struggling to keep a straight face.

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…or, like us, out buying Eurovision party snacks:

This is a non-trivial matter. The (at the time) Secretary of State for Scotland seems to have just admitted deliberately and knowingly undermining the democratically-elected First Minister. The report may have been sneakily published on the eve of a Bank Holiday weekend, but we suspect this one won’t have gone away by Tuesday.

STV’s Stephen Daisley yesterday penned one of the more thoughtful analyses we’ve seen on the future of Labour, both UK and Scottish varieties, although it’s perhaps a bit heavy on “they should do things that are popular and will make people vote for them” and a bit light on what those things would actually be.

But there’s also this.

It’s a bit like watching a rabbit on a motorway explain that lights can’t hurt you.

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Sorry for the wait, readers, but having fancy custom stuff made simply takes time.

However, we’re delighted to report that all of the donor perks for our 2015 fundraiser are now in our possession, and will be winging their way out to generous contributors over the next few days.

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So cutting Corporation Tax is back to being a good left-wing thing, yes?

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From last November:

Another one for the CV, there.

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Note: we haven’t mocked this up.

But jings, readers, it’s hardly any dafter than most of the others.

For your licence fee this afternoon.

A new guess every 30 seconds. Keep tuning in!

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We’re still on semi-holiday and the sun’s out, so rather than do any actual work by analysing and commenting on the last few questions we asked people in our most recent poll, we thought we’d just stick the tables up, let you have a nose through them and discuss them amongst yourselves. Click the image to enlarge.

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