DONATIONS from all over the world have helped the Orkney Four’s fundraiser, to pay their legal costs in the Frenchgate saga, soar to more than £200,000.
Tim Morrison, Cary Welling, Fiona Grahame and Phaemie Matheson took their MP Alistair Carmichael to court where it was said he lied about a memo that erroneously claimed Nicola Sturgeon would have preferred the Tories to remain in Downing Street after last May’s General Election.
Judges at an Election Court in Edinburgh found Carmichael had told a “blatant lie” when he said in a TV interview that he had been unaware of the memo, which was aimed at damaging the First Minister, until after he had been asked about it by a journalist. They ruled the petitioners had not proved “beyond reasonable doubt” that the LibDem MP had committed an “illegal practice” under the Representation of the People Act.
Donations to the legal fund for the Orkney Four have continued to pour into the Indiegogo.com crowdfunding website.
Grahame told The National yesterday: “I was watching the total rise on Christmas Eve and I got quite emotional. It just goes to show that people now expect a certain standard from their elected representatives.
“I have always had great faith in our supporters. Politics has changed – the referendum saw to that – and ordinary people have shown that they are not prepared to accept the sort of behaviour from their MPs that they had in the past.
“Most of the donations have come from all over Scotland, with a lot from Orkney and Shetland, but there have been a significant number from places like America and Canada.
“People want to see honesty in politics and they’re prepared to do something about it.”
The petitioners need to raise £208,000 for legal costs.
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