Alistair Carmichael has the backing of Tim Farron.I think it was the wrong decision. A new leadership is the time to sort out problems and start afresh.
Alistair Carmichael is a liar. He admitted it.
It's true that Carmichael made an apology to Nicola Sturgeon for lying about her but, let's be honest, he didn't do it voluntarily or honourably.
He did it when he was found out. He did it when there was no other alternative but to own up... after the Cabinet Secretary had conducted an inquiry at considerable expense and discovered that he was the culprit.
What he did was to authorise the leaking of a memo which he knew to contain inaccuracies, about a political opponent, and with the express intention of affecting the result of the UK general election.
As a Cabinet Minister and a solicitor to boot, he must have been aware how wrong and indeed dangerous that was given that he was also risking the relationship between the UK government and the government of the Republic of France.
Because, in trying to damage the first minister of Scotland and her party, he involved the French ambassador to the court of St James. This was serious stuff. Well above the pay band level of a humble highland solicitor. His actions encouraged the newspapers to call the French Ambassador and her Consul General liars, along with Nicola Sturgeon.
When he was asked about it he compounded the crime by denying all knowledge. He knew nothing about it. Of course that cast the shadow of blame over the much more important and powerful Foreign Office and their many staff. It wasn't long before that was dealt with.
In my opinion it was a stupid act designed to affect the outcome of an election which all indicators suggested would be disastrous not just for his party, but all other unionist parties.
At the time, as now, Carmichael was not just "the Hon" he was "the right hon", a style given to senior politicians who are considered advisers to the queen. He showed himself not to be in the least bit honourable. He probably broke the law, and he most certainly acted dishonourable.
Of course the admission didn't happen until he was re-elected as the MP for the northern isles, by a very much reduced majority. The Liberal stronghold followed the trend of the rest of Scotland but not quite enough to unseat him. He is now the only Liberal Democrat MP in Scotland.
There is a public campaign in the islands to get him to resign and re-stand, if he wishes, in a by-election, in order to see if, in the light of his late admission of guilt, the people of the islands still wish him to represent them.
I don't think that that is unreasonable. No one is demanding he be sent to prison, or fined or even sanctioned as if he had been 2 minutes late for a jobcentre appointment.
No one is suggesting that he be debarred from standing again for the seat.
People simply want him to put himself to the electorate now that they know he is a self confessed liar and a cheat, facts about his character unknown to the people when he was elected.
Farron says that people deserve a second chance. That is what is being proposed. A second chance for him to sell himself to his electorate and a second chance for them to pick their MP. This time on a level playing field.
It seems to me that Mr Farron should have asked him to resign his seat and re-stand. There is no guarantee that he would not win it again, but this time the people would be voting for the real Carmichael.
I think Farron missed his chance to start putting the Liberal Democrats back on the rails after their disastrous coalition with the Tories and its fallout.
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Afterthought
It is possible or even probable that other people knew about that memo.
It seems likely that Carmichael's bag carrier, the present cabinet secretary, Mundell (known to us as Fluffy), will have been aware of it.
Given the fact that it the affair escalated quite seriously, mainly because of the involvement of the French Ambassador, it's not unlikely that Nick Clegg and David Cameron had to be appraised of it.
It would be unthinkable that they wouldn't have asked Carmichael for an explanation. Did he lie to them, or did he tell them the truth and they hid it until after the election?
Like so many other things in this country, we have no idea and probably never will.
And...
While we are on the subject: Message to Cameron. When parliament says no to a war, that probably means no.
If you decide (which I guess, under royal prerogative, you may) to send the troops anyway, and sod parliament, remember that there's always a chance someone will find out.
Troops are people and they have families, in case you'd forgotten, you total despicable dipstick.
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Finally congratulations to the SNP MPs who will all give their pay rises to local charities. Further congratulations to any other MPs who decide to join them, and I'm sure there will be many.
When other people are living on poverty wages and have had no pay rises for years, it is despicable that MPs should feather their own nests.
