News / MP begins legal battle to keep his job
LAWYERS acting for northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael have begun their fight to resist attempts to use the courts to remove him from office.
Four Orkney constituents raised more than £61,500 through a crowd funding campaign to go to Edinburgh’s Court of Session to challenge his election in May.
At a procedural hearing on Thursday, Carmichael’s QC Roddy Dunlop said he would be putting forward legal arguments proving no laws had been broken.
Judges Lady Paton and Lord Eassie continued the hearing until next Wednesday to look into “administrative issues” before deciding when the case should go ahead.
Both sides agreed the hearing should take place in Edinburgh and transmitted to Kirkwall via videolink as there was no dispute over the facts of the case and therefore purely a matter of legal argument.
Jonathan Mitchell QC, acting for the constituents, said he hoped the case could be dealt with before the September parliamentary recess.
The election petition raised by Timothy Morrison, Phemie Matheson, Fiona Grahame and Carolyn Welling is thought to be the first case of its kind for 50 years.
They are using the 1983 Representation of the People’s Act to argue Carmichael is not fit to hold office after he leaked a confidential government memo to the Daily Telegraph one month before the general election and then lied about it on an interview broadcast on Channel Four.
The memo claimed Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon had told the French ambassador in private that she would prefer David Cameron to be elected prime minister, contrary to what she was saying in public.
The Cabinet Office swiftly launched an inquiry into the leak and two weeks after the election announced that Carmichael had admitted being involved.
Carmichael apologised to Sturgeon and the ambassador for any embarrassment he may have caused and gave up the severance pay he would have been due as secretary of state for Scotland.
Become a supporter of Shetland News
Jonathan Mitchell QC, acting for the constituents, said this behaviour called into question the MP’s integrity and suitability to represent his constituency at Westminster.
The petition claims his actions were designed to have an impact on the outcome of the election.
However Carmichael maintains this was not the case and there was no breach of the legislation.
The MP said that he believed at the time it was in the public interest to release the memo given its significance and the credibility of the source, an unnamed civil servant.
He acknowledged this had been “an error of political judgment”, but insists his actions were not designed to affect the outcome of the election.
At the end of Thursday’s hearing, well known campaigner Stuart Hill from Cunningsburgh stood up to challenge the jurisdiction of the court by insisting that Shetland was not part of Scotland.
Lady Paton said that she could not listen to him because he was not part of these proceedings.
Become a supporter of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider start paying for their dose of the latest local news delivered straight to their PC, tablet or mobile phone.
Journalism comes at a price and because that price is not being paid in today’s rapidly changing media world, most publishers - national and local - struggle financially despite very healthy audience figures.
Most online publishers have started charging for access to their websites, others have chosen a different route. Shetland News currently has over 630 supporters who are all making small voluntary financial contributions. All funds go towards covering our cost and improving the service further.
Your contribution will ensure Shetland News can: -
- Bring you the headlines as they happen;
- Stay editorially independent;
- Give a voice to the community;
- Grow site traffic further;
- Research and publish more in-depth news, including more Shetland Lives features.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a supporter of Shetland News by either making a single payment or monthly subscription.
Support us from as little as £3 per month – it only takes a minute to sign up. Thank you.