Given that the election court had just found that he told a “Blatant lie”, Alistair Carmichael struck absolutely the wrong note in his statement after the case. He could have said:
“I did tell a lie, and it is something I deeply regret. I apologise to my constituents, to my family and to the people of Scotland for all the trouble my lie has caused. I have learned from it. I am grateful to the court for giving me aother chance, and I have now learned never to indulge in that kind of bad behaviour again.”
Instead, with extraordinary arrogance, Alistair said this:
“I am pleased with the decision of the court.
Although I was always confident of winning the last few months have been a difficult and stressful time for me and my family.
We have been enormously grateful for the tremendous levels of support received from local people, in both Orkney and Shetland, regardless of which political party they normally support…
This case was politically motivated. It was a deliberate attempt by nationalists to remove the last Scottish Liberal voice at Westminster, and is a mark of the unhealthy polarisation of Scottish politics since the referendum.”
Co-ordinated statements were put out by Willie Rennie and “Bomber” Tim Farron saying much the same thing. So the utter lack of any humility must have been deliberate. This is an orchestrated act of arrogance.
You will recall that I predicted that there was no way that Scotland’s deeply conservative and unionist judiciary would find against Carmichael. The reasoning behind their judgement is intellectually risible. They say that Carmichael only lied in denying a specific leak; he was therefore not making a false claim about his general character. If he had specifically stated that he never leaked he would have been making a false claim and disqualified.
Here is the pathetic “reasoning” of the judge Lady Paton:
They explained that if a candidate made a false statement that he would never leak an internal confidential memo, no matter how helpful that might be to his party, as he regarded the practice of leaking confidential information as dishonest and morally reprehensible, and he would not stoop to such tactics, when in fact that candidate had leaked an internal confidential memo containing material which was inaccurate and highly damaging to an opponent, they would be likely to conclude that the candidate had given a false statement “’in relation to [his] personal character or conduct” because he would be falsely holding himself out as being of such a standard of honesty, honour, trustworthiness and integrity that, in contrast with what others in Westminster might do, he would never be involved in such a leaking exercise.
“In the present case, when speaking to the Channel 4 interviewer, the first respondent did not make such an express statement about his personal character or conduct,” Lady Paton continued. “We are not persuaded that the false statement proved to have been made was in relation to anything other than the first respondent’s awareness (or lack of awareness) of a political machination. Accordingly we are not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the words used by the first respondent amounted to a ‘false statement of fact in relation to [his] personal character or conduct’. It follows that we are not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that an essential element of section 106 has been proved.
There are several glaring errors in this reasoning. The first is that if I denied knowledge of a murder I had in fact committed, I would be making a false statement about my general character whether or not I had added a condemnation of the morality of murder.
The second is that Lady Paton ignores the “conduct” in “false statement in relation to his character or conduct.” In denying knowledge of a leak he had in fact made himself. Carmichael was beyond any reasonable doubt making a false statement as to his conduct, even if we accept Paton’s argument it did not go to his character. Note that there is no reference to his “general” or “usual” conduct.
This is the judgement of a woman justifying a pre-determined stitch-up.
Despite al this, I would not be tremendously concerned about the result if Alistair had the decency to be a bit chastened by it. It is only because of our ridiculously undemocratic electoral system that representation is so skewed. You didn’t ought to get over 95% of the seats on 52% of the votes, and I am not sure what is gained by magnifying that other wrong. But any mixed feelings I have on those grounds are dispelled by the utterly inappropriate triumphalism the Lib Dems are displaying, as though to be found a blatant liar by a court is something to be proud of. The brass neck of it all is sickening.
Alistair Carmichael has still to find out the result of a inquiry by the parliamentary standards commissioner, no doubt they’ll follow suit and clear the self confessed liar of any wrong doing.
There would have been no guerrilla war and no civil war in Ireland had Britain not resisted Ireland’s declaration of independence.
Something in his favour. Carmichael went to Israel and Occupied Palestine in 2007 under the auspices of the Welfare Association UK, whose chair is Jenny Tonge. I have the highest regard for her. Clegg threw her out of the LDs.
http://www.welfareassociation.org.uk/about-us
http://www.welfareassociation.org.uk/about-us/board-trustees/
Fallon should throw Carmichael out of his tiny party.
Oh no, the Herald of Doom in their article has already dealt with that:- he was no longer an MP, apparently, when the plot was executed, and the parliamentary standards nabobs have no jurisdiction, also apparently. It was end of term, you see and just a jolly jape.
Scotland is part, a large part of Britain, only tectonic shifts could alter that geological fact.
On remaining in a union with a serial war criminal ‘partner’, robbing us blind, laying waste to our country, and laughing in our faces, we decided against. We had an election, we rejected all unionist parties, comprehensively, we voted overwhelmingly to become de facto Independent, in May 2015. News is slow reaching London and sinking in, slower still radiating back out to the agents in the field, to stand down. The game is over.
And that is what happened in Ireland in the parliamentary election of Dec. 14, 1918, when Sinn Fein candidates were elected to the overwhelming majority of parliamentary seats, There was no referendum. Westminster surely would not have allowed it.
“I’m not one for borders and such. But I do wonder if such a vote where taken now?”
There would be a lot of Edinburgh commuters switching from yes to no.
Oil at $40 dollars and forecast to fall further, if Scotland went independent now people in Ethiopia would be holding pop concerts for us.
Oil at $40 dollars and forecast to fall further, if Scotland went independent now people in Ethiopia would be holding pop concerts for us.
Just as well the UK’s offshore tax industry and record growth in the economy will keep it running sweetly, isn’t it? Oh, just a moment. Oligarch house sales are down by 50% and we need to build even bigger flood defences in Cumbria. Not surprised you don’t move south, Fred.
Now that you’re a full-fledged CIA banana republic, you could do with a visit from Param Cumaraswamy
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/manual/en/rij_m.htm
Fellow LD creeps.
Paul Hindley @PaulHindley2210
I’m glad that the SNP mob and nasty cyber-nats failed to oust Alistair #Carmichael. That’s great news for Orkney and Shetland.
Tom Brake MP @thomasbrake
Very happy to hear the news about my friend Alistair Carmichael, he can now go back to focussing on being a fantastic #LibDem MP again
A Home Rule for Ireland Bill was passed in the Commons in April 1914. The Lords held it up. It would not have come into Statute until September 1916. 1WW started by Czar (Divine right to rule) invading Germany. European Royals Interdependant Treaties (Look it up)
1WW intervened. The Irish troubles. Partition of Ireland. 1922. Irish Civil War kicked off.
Those who wanted full Irish Home Rule and those who supported partition. The Masons in the six counties. Ulster. All sides armed, imported weapons during the 1WW. Easter Rising 1916.
The Oil sector is taxed at 75%. Westminster takes 50% of production + taxes 25%. = 75%
If the tax was cut the Oil sector would still be profitable and producing more. The Tories have deliberately tried to ruin the Oil sector. Thousands of jobs are being lost. More Oil &Gas has to be imported putting up the balance of payment deficit and increasing the debt. Losing Scottish/UK economy £Billions.
It is not the price that is affecting and damaging the Oil sector. It is the tax. It should reflect the price.
The Tories/Unionist have deliberately tried to ruin the Scottish economy. They always do. Thatcher, illegally and secretly took all the Oil revenues an cut Scottish economy. Labour/Unionist illegal, wars, banking fraud and tax evasion. Kept the McCrone Report secret for thirty years, and wasted all the revenues. Cost Scotland £Billions. £220Billion.
Is Carmichael Craig’s best friend?
The Only thing Worse than “Knowing” Beforehand what the outcome of something like the Carmichael Trial – Where No one will Die over it – is Knowing beforehand what the vote result would be.. for something like the Bomb Syria debate, for example,
Great news from SNP, Having Stripped Donald Trump of the business ambassador for Scotland following the presidential candidate’s inflammatory comments about Muslims.
Nicola Sturgeon has decided his membership of the respected GlobalScot business network should be withdrawn with immediate effect.
Nice one Nicola
Great article about a cheat and a liar, Craig, a desperate Dan who will get his comeuppance at the next possible opportunity, from his constituents one presumes.
this is O/T, and not sourced by pesky links, wouldn’t want anyone to read too much, so those who don’t want to read it can now read the next comment.
Rostov on Don, the improved kilo class Russian sub, has, after agreeing targets with the US and UK, has shot its first missiles at a mine/ammunitions factory in IS land.
The wests problem is that the Syrian army is not really declined to fight IS, and we have Sunni Kurds opposed to IS, shooting at Shia Kurds opposed to IS. Russia is engaged in a proxy war against Turkish allies along the Turkish border, whilst Turkey accuse them of ethnic cleansing.
Meanwhile the Krauts are seriously contemplating to send ground troops into this chaotic powder keg where nobody knows who or what they are fighting.
This my letter sent off last night to Richard Bacon MP, don’t think much will come of it.
“Dear Richard Bacon,
Thank you very much for your reply on the issue of passing the vote and
attacking the sovereign state of Syria. Firstly, this long term problem
is partially due to the Governments leader David Camerons lack of
scrutiny, when TBlair used WMD lies to Parliament and a falsehood of 45 min. to bamboozle the collective opposition, so thanks for not very
much.
Coming to the stated aims of this Government to interfere with IS/Daesh lines of communications.
Sadly this is also not true as there is no lobbying of satellite
companies Eutelsat, SES or Avanti, all of them connecting into the
middle east, these form the main stay of these western supported terror groups, whether its Jabhat Al Nusra, ISIL or Daesh. The equipment is purchased in Turkey at £500,- for antenna, code and transmitter, there are thousands and they are the means how these video’s you seem to have seen are transmitted on to the internet.
Eutelsat has global full spectrum coverage, but all three can ascertain the exact position of a transmission as it comes with a GPS location. Should they so wish they could blank these positions in Syria, selectively.
Further, these locations, if shared with our allies soon after
transmission, would enable us to target their communications with
little time lost.
These three companies hold the key to stop these people communicating
with each other on chat rooms, we can stop violent video’s ,
recruitment of new fighters and interrupt their supply logistics.
Why is this avenue not investigated? what do the lawyers of these
three giants not understand about the ‘prevent policy’?
I would like to urge you to make inquiries as to how this Government
could lobby these 3 ‘terrorist sympathising and furthering’ companies,
there are clear means of interrupting their communications.
Secondly, one would not want to waste too much CO2 with emails, I’d
like to draw your attention to the TTIP debate called by Geraint Davies
and Zac Goldsmith, a very important debate for all of us and our
children’s future.
It is vital that we are opposing policies that deliberately undermine
the progress we have collectively achieved in Europe, policies that
threaten our public service via the TISA policies,
which undermine democratic discourse by moving power to private
companies,
weaken our safety standards and regulatory requirements, for example,
emission controls,
weaken our employment rights,
and allow lawyers and corporations to sue Governments if they don’t get
their way.
TTIP, TPP and TISA are all part of a conspiracy, none of their remit
has ever been made public, MEP’s are threatened behind closed doors and
not a single mandate has been received from voters, not in any EU
elections, that allows our representatives to go beyond the scope of
the EU’s bilateral trading frameworks.
This global reach of corporate powers, as you well know as someone who
knows about tax evasion and avoidance in the world, will destroy small
independent and successful businesses, it will create a race to the
bottom with regards to income and working relations, its will make the
taxpayers vulnerable via Governments inabilities to deflect the legal
powers inscribed within this retched treaty.
I expect that you understand the needs and wants of small businesses,
they are the backbone and the biggest employers overall, their
existence must not be jeopardised, imho. Please oppose this development
with all you’ve got.
Yours sincerely,
Ken500, I know sod all about the Irish civil war, just doing some reading.
Ireland has been so messed up over the years hasn’t it? It’s hard to believe so few of the British establishment could do so much harm. For generations.
Yet they STILL manage to keep going. What the hell is it about supporting this establishment? your looking at generations of misery, mother fathers, children.
And the Scots are still on bored of course….Fred pretending he’s not a brown shirt. Yes you are Fred, don’t hate to break it to you, but you are.
Cumbria, Borders vote Tory (NO) Better together. Fire, Flood and famine. Illegal wars, floods and vulnerable people being sanction and starved to death. Osbourne/Cameron. Cuts to public spending and flood Defences. £Billions for illegal Wars/Trident. Nuclear Stations. The waste dumped in Ethiopia.
“Great news from SNP, Having Stripped Donald Trump of the business ambassador for Scotland following the presidential candidate’s inflammatory comments about Muslims.”
I never did like that Donald Trump. Ever since he got to build a golf course on a site of special scientific interest, against the wishes of the local people and after being denied planning permission by the council, just because he was matey with the First Minister.
There are plenty books on Irish History. The Art Gallery in Dublin. Dublin has many historical sites, great historical monuments. NI is an Apartheid State supported by Westminster/Unionists.
The British Establishment has caused trouble all over the world and lied about it. The Official Secrets Act.
Good and interesting point Fred. They need a thorn in their side just for a reality check sometimes. Keep them sane.
I see that the Voice of NORAID clocked on early today (15h07).
Do any of Craig’s followers have any clue why Saudi is now under pressure regards ISIS? After all, ever since Abdul Aziz turned on the oil spigot at Ras Tanura in the 1930s after uniting the entire peninsula by marrying into the Rashid tribe, the Saudis have been entirely dependent upon the Ikhwan/Qaeda/ISIS for legitimacy. Every time you put petrol in your tank you fund more madrassas. Why is the penny dropping in the West only now?
” If the tax was cut the Oil sector would still be profitable and producing more. ”
Tax on the oil and gas sector was cut in the 2015 Budget and will be cut further in January 2016. For the first time tax flow from the North Sea was negative in the first six months of the current financial year.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/21/north-sea-tax-revenues-plummet-negative-first-time-history
Declining production wouldn’t have anything to do with the wells running dry now would it?
“There would have been no guerrilla war and no civil war in Ireland had Britain not resisted Ireland’s declaration of independence.”
_____________________
Which is about as intelligent as saying that there would have been no guerilla war in Southern Rhodesia had Britain not resisted Southern Rhodesia’s unilateral declaration of independence.
While not particularly interested in the question of Scottish independence I do find Fred a very stimulating contributor to the occasional discussions on that topic. He always seems very well briefed, obviously very much on the ball, refuses to be distracted and put off by the Brownshirt brigade, has a pertinent answer for most things and makes his points economically and with wit. If only there were more like him on here!
The Irish Republic in the 1930s was an authoritarian, priest-ridden state with a President whose sympathy for the German and Italian fascist régimes was similar to that of Portuguese strongman Salazar’s.
@Republic of Scotland
Meanwhile the neocons are looking after their ex-politico buddies.
Jim Murphy, conflict adviser.
Wee Dougie Alexander advisor to Bono.
Labour’s ex-messiah, and closed shop speaker, Gordon Brown, globe trotting financial advisor to Pimco.
It doesn’t matter how shit these men were in their political careers, they served their neocon masters well, and now they’ve been welcomed back into the fold.
Darling has got a job at Morgan Stanley as well! Not bad for a former Marxist and international socialist… 😀
I was just reading through the wiki entry on the civil war ken.
I’m reminded why the uk is an unmatched sprawling out of control bureaucracy, all that paperwork, documents, etc. It was just the same in Nazi Germany, with less good PR I hear.
It’s all ‘above board’ it’s all ‘official’,’legitimate’ Lawful, stuff you (or we) just can’t mess with.
I felt liberated just in France, France FFS. And southern Ireland (never spent much time north, wish I had) what beautiful people, really trusting, warm, total contrast really. Though there are many lovely unpolitical People in the uk. But life’s a real grind for most, rubs off.
Trump didn’t built on a SSI (for rare plants – Lizard Tongue) So rare they couldn’t be found. The development was supported by 90% of the locals, all political parties but the Greens. A majority of businesses and tourist associations and the Professor who studied the coast for thirty years. A handful of Greens caused the trouble. Santa is there cost £10. Muslims are welcome but not the proprietor. The Reporter gave permission after a Public Inquiry.
The US/UK and France have been killing, maiming and banning Muslims for over 100 years. Trump ‘Ban Muslins until our Reps understand what the hell is going on’. The US causes all the trouble in Europe but doesn’t accept many migrants.UK/US and France has caused the worse migrant crisis in Europe since WW11. Costing £Billions.
When the Green/LibDem used the casting to vote against the Development, after the Local Committee gave permission. There was outrage. The LibDem (Greens) blocked the AWPR for ten years causing traffic chaos. Wasted £MillionsBillions public money. They campaigning against it, funded by landowners. Blocked the expansion of the Airport and other projects. e.g. UTG Project a gift of £80Million to pedestrianise the City was rejected. Now a carbuncle is being constructed. It will dwarf the City centre and cause even more congestion. It will be leased back over thirty years. A total waste of public money. People are protesting on the streets.
We urgently need a political system where there is a mechanism for any elected politician who lies for political gain to be removed from office. Anything else makes a joke of the idea of representative democracy.
Until that happy day, all candidates in elections need to be publicly asked about their own standards of integrity and honesty, so we stand a small chance of holding them to their answers.