Carmichael: No party action over Sturgeon memo leak

Mr Carmichael has said he would have resigned had he still been Scottish Secretary

Former Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael will not face any party disciplinary proceedings after admitting being behind the leak of a memo before the general election.

The Lib Dems said no more action would be taken after the incorrect suggestion that Nicola Sturgeon wanted David Cameron to remain as prime minister.

Orkney and Shetland MP Mr Carmichael said it was an error of judgement.

SNP deputy leader Stewart Hosie has said the party must be held to account.

He also told the BBC he understood a complaint had already been made to the parliamentary standards commissioner.

SNP leader Ms Sturgeon has called for Mr Carmichael to consider his position as an MP and described the leak of the confidential memo as a "blatant election dirty trick".

He has since accepted "the details of the account are not correct" and accepted "full responsibility for the publication".

Ms Sturgeon has tweeted Mr Carmichael's letter of apology

A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats said: "Alistair has taken responsibility and has given up £17,000. The party fully supports him as MP for Orkney and Shetland."

Mr Carmichael had been entitled to receive £17,000 severance pay after losing his Cabinet position.

Speaking on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Hosie said: "This is really quite outrageous, and a glib apology and an error of judgement simply aren't good enough.

"How can the people of Orkney and Shetland trust him? I think they have the right to go to the polls again on what we now know."

Complaint raised

Mr Hosie added: "We understand there has already been a complaint raised with the parliamentary standards commissioner. I would hope that would be investigated fully."

He later said: "Mr Carmichael has no credibility in continuing as an MP and in my opinion he should stand down. It is appropriate for the Standards Commissioner to get involved and arrive at her own conclusions, having investigated the full facts."

Protests have been held in Kirkwall, Orkney, and Lerwick, Shetland, calling for Mr Carmichael to resign.

The confidential memo was published by the Daily Telegraph on 3 April as the general election campaign got under way.

It was written by a civil servant in the Scotland Office and claimed Ms Sturgeon told the French Ambassador to the UK, Sylvie Bermann, that she would prefer Mr Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, to remain as prime minister.

The memo also claimed Ms Sturgeon said that Ed Miliband, who was then Labour's leader, was not prime minister material.

The official cabinet office inquiry into the leaking of the memo said Mr Carmichael's former special adviser Euan Roddin gave the details to the Daily Telegraph - but he had Mr Carmichael's permission to do so.

Mr Carmichael said, while he had not seen the document before it was published by the newspaper, he was "aware of its content and agreed that my special adviser should make it public".