THE next scene in the “Frenchgate” saga will play out in Edinburgh on Monday, when a “by order” hearing will be held in Court 1 at Parliament House.

This will take the form of further procedural talks to discuss what evidence self-confessed liar Alistair Carmichael will give, how many witnesses will be called and how long the evidential stage of the Election Court trial will last. 

Four Orkney residents are trying to have the General Election result in their constituency voided after Carmichael sanctioned the leak of a memo aimed at damaging Nicola Sturgeon, then lied about his role in it.

The People v Carmichael have raised almost £100,000 from 5,600 backers to fund the case through a crowdfunding bid on the Indiegogo website.

A similar attempt by Carmichael supporters to raise cash has raised just £7,750. There will be a full report in The National tomorrow.