IAN Blackford has said he was part of a "targeted political smear" after he was accused of identifying Boris Johnson's location on his holiday to Scotland.
The SNP's Westminster leader said at PMQs that the allegations were “entirely and deliberately false”.
Johnson’s staycation in Scotland with fiancee Carrie Symonds and baby son Wilfred had to be cut short for security reasons after photographs of the isolated farmhouse - and the tent erected outside - appeared in the Daily Mail.
Reports later suggested that Number 10 suspected Blackford, in whose Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency the house is situated, of revealing where he was.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson cuts short holiday in Scotland as location is revealed
Blackford, raising a point of order in the Commons, said: “The photographer who provided the material for the original Daily Mail front page later confirmed that I was not the source in revealing the Prime Minister’s location – a location, I might add, I was not even aware of.
“However, by this point the damage was done. This matter has not only been the worst kind of political smear, the false allegation has equally resulted in security implications for myself and my family given its serious and personal nature.”
Blackford said threats against him were made on social media, adding: “It’s a very serious situation when the apparatus of UK Government can be deployed in this way, manufacturing false briefings in order to attack an opposition politician.”
It was actually Johnson's own security team who revealed his location and Peter Jolly, who took the photo for the Daily Mail confirmed to The National it was "definitely not" Blackford.
READ MORE: Revealed: Here's who let news of Boris Johnson's secret Scots hideaway slip
Johnson said he had a “wonderful” staycation in Ian Blackford’s constituency, adding: “I’m very happy to accept the assurances that he gives.
“However, I just draw his attention… to a tweet by a chap called Torcuil Crichton on August 17 saying: ‘Ferocious midge count in Wester Ross tonight, I hear. Must be bad if you’re fair-skinned and camping’ to which an account, which purports to be (Blackford) but I’m sure it isn’t because of what he’s just said, says ‘I wonder if an education at Eton stands you in good stead for these blighters’.
“Anyway, I’m happy to accept his assurances and protestations and I think we should leave it at that.”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle expressed concerns about the security implications for both Johnson and Blackford, adding to MPs: “Let’s be very, very careful and let’s learn from this.”
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