Alistair Carmichael admits Nicola Sturgeon Telegraph leak and concedes details were 'not correct'
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.
I have received letter from @acarmichaelmp apologising for leak and accepting that contents of memo not correct pic.twitter.com/k6Kkt8dkwC
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 22, 2015
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.