The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Alistair Carmichael Conservative Party Nicola Sturgeon

Alistair Carmichael admits Nicola Sturgeon Telegraph leak and concedes details were 'not correct'

Author

By John McCarthy | Opinion Editor

May 22, 2015 | 2 min read

Alistair Carmichael, the former Scottish secretary, has taken "full responsibility for the publication" of a memo stating SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was secretly backing David Cameron in the 2015 general election.

The memo, a supposed account of a conversation between Sturgeon and a French diplomat, was published by the Daily Telegraph in an piece which invoked the criticism of many social media users. But in an apology sent by Carmichael to Sturgeon, he accepted "the details of the account are not correct".

The alleged account between the SNP leader and the French ambassador was penned by a Scottish Office civil servant. Carmichael then granted his special adviser Euan Roddin permission to leak the memo, according to the Cabinet Office inquiry.

Sturgeon shared the apology letter to her Twitter followers.

The leak, which came under investigation by the cabinet office, was dubbed a "serious breach of protocol" and "an error of judgement" by Carmichael.

The results of the inquiry from the cabinet office can be read here.

Alistair Carmichael Conservative Party Nicola Sturgeon

More from Alistair Carmichael

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +