PRESSURE was mounting last night for disgraced MP Alistair Carmichael to refuse to accept money from a crowdfunding website – because the cash was raised to stop an alleged “SNP witch hunt”.
Three out of the four people attempting to have the shameless MP’s election result overturned are not SNP members.
Sheila Ritchie, a fellow lawyer and friend of the Liberal Democrat’s only MP in Scotland, set up the web page “Help Alistair and stop the SNP”, on which she wrote: “Please donate what you can and help stop the SNP witch hunt. This is an attack, plain and simple.”
However, SNP MP Peter Grant told The National: “A witch hunt means you gang up on an innocent person on completely false charges that are physically impossible to have happened in the first place in order to burn them to death.
“We have a case here where he has admitted that he broke the Ministerial Code and he would have had to resign as a minister if the electorate hadn’t kicked him out first. He has made statements about his involvement in a leak that turned out to be untrue and that he should have known was untrue.
“That again raises the question of potential very serious misconduct for any public figure.”
Grant said it was ridiculous to suggest that there was something unjust in some of Carmichael’s constituents – “who pay his wages” – seeking to hold him to account “for at least two cases of misconduct, one of which he has admitted is a sacking offence.
“Most people would think that an MP who blatantly lies to their constituents should be subject to some mechanism to remove them from office,” he said.
“What comes next – are police accused of mounting witch hunts against people because they committed armed robbery?”
Grant added that a group of Carmichael’s constituents who “genuinely believed” his election was influenced by an act of dishonesty were taking the only recourse open to them.
“If the Liberals are so much a party of civil liberties, are they saying that if it’s found that an election candidate blatantly lied to the electorate in order to seek election, when they get caught should there be absolutely no holding to account?
“I know that’s the way Westminster has operated in the past and I know there’s a view among some politicians and BBC pundits that people expect politicians to lie, so it’s not as serious as a police officer lying in court or the like,” he said.
“I don’t draw that distinction. If politicians want to promote standards of honesty and integrity in public life and it does turn out that Mr Carmichael has blatantly lied in order to win an election then I don’t think anyone can criticise the people who want him held to account for that.
“For a political party which has Democrat in its name – if their definition of democracy is to say ‘thanks very much, I’ve got your vote, that’s me for five years – even if it turns out that I rigged or cheated or lied in the election, you can’t touch me’ – that’s not democracy. That’s a complete sham of democracy and deep down the Liberal Democrats know that perfectly well.”
Grant said it would be wrong for Carmichael to have to surrender the case because he couldn’t afford to defend himself, but he added: “There’s been so little support for him, it might turn out, on a technicality, that he can’t legally be removed from office, but his own supporters are maybe wondering whether he should be stepping aside anyway.”
A number people have complained to the GoFundMe website, where Carmichael’s campaign is running, that it should be suspended because of untrue remarks in Ritchie’s introduction.
Ewan Sinclair wrote: “This seems to be a politically motivated campaign which wrongly states that the SNP is behind this legal action... The petitioners stated live on STV that this was the case BEFORE you started this campaign. This has been reported to GoFundMe legal.”
Fiona Nicholson added: “I can’t believe that in addition to being a compulsive liar, Alastair is cynical enough to set up a crowdfunder to defend his deceitful behaviour and his lies to the voters.”
Allan Thomson wrote: “I am just one of thousands of Scots of all political persuasions (including LibDem supporters) who are no longer willing to accommodate low moral standards from our elected representatives.”
Among those who did contribute to Carmichael’s fund was Robert Moss, who said: “Politicians lie and cheat naturally – it’s part of their job description. Alistair seems to be cack-handed and not much good at it. But the stream of self-righteous comments that this appeal has generated is worth a tenner for entertainment value alone. So here it is.”
The National has attempted to contact Carmichael, Ritchie and the owners of GoFundMe in California, but has had no response.
The National view, September 12: Please, Alistair, will you in the name of God go?
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