SNP MP's

[BetterTogether]

And it is a claim that has been thoroughly discredited. Who wrote the memo?

It's a claim that has been rigourously denied but as of yet not thoroughly discredited.
Allegedly it's been written by a civil servant somewhere.

It wouldn't be the first time an MP has said something they didn't think would become public domain.

The standard form on this type of embarrassment is to deny, deny, deny until the evidence appears then they become objects of public derision.

That statement would apply to all parties.

[Oddquine]

It's a claim that has been rigourously denied but as of yet not thoroughly discredited.
Allegedly it's been written by a civil servant somewhere.

It wouldn't be the first time an MP has said something they didn't think would become public domain.

The standard form on this type of embarrassment is to deny, deny, deny until the evidence appears then they become objects of public derision.

That statement would apply to all parties.

There's been an enquiry set up into who leaked it, and, I hope, into who wrote it..but it appears to have been someone in the Scottish Office....quelle surprise! To be fair, that somebody in the Scottish Office didn't quite believe it either.as in the part of the quote I have bolded..

It started .......Just had a telephone conversation with Pierre-Alain Coffinier (PAC), the French CG. He was keen to fill me in on some of the conversations his Ambassador had during her visit to Scotland last week. All of this was given on a confidential basis, so please limit any onward circulation. So I'm pleased to see that the circulation was limited, thanks to the Unionist MSM, to the whole population of the UK stupid enough to buy newspapers and pay TV licences.

It ended with the only remark on what was allegedly said and which has been expanded and reported ad nauseam........The Ambassador also had a truncated meeting with the FM (FM running late after a busy Thursday…). Discussion appears to have focused mainly on the political situation, with the FM stating that she wouldn’t want a formal coalition with Labour; that the SNP would almost certainly have a large number of seats; that she had no idea ‘what kind of mischief’ Alex Salmond would get up to; and confessed that she’d rather see David Cameron remain as PM (and didn’t see Ed Miliband as PM material). I have to admit that I’m not sure that the FM’s tongue would be quite so loose on that kind of thing in a meeting like that, so it might well be a case of something being lost in translation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...geon-memo.html

[BetterTogether]

It would be nice to see what the inquiry comes up with and there's nothing new with stuff being leaked.

Only issue I have is the conversation is reported to have been in English so I'm not so sure you can claim something was lost in translation.

I'd thoroughly agree Ed Milliband doesn't look like prime minister material and reality is David Cameron being prime minister would do the SNPs cause more good than harm long term.

It's not so hard to believe certainly not worth all the kerfuffle and waste of tax payers money now to be spent on finding out who said what.

[piratelassie]

It is an accepted fact that per. capita. we pay more into the coffers than what is given back in the Barnett formula, and this has been the case for the last 34 yrs repetively.

[sids]

Partisan opinions are very interesting, but only to others who hold the same partisan opinions.

[BetterTogether]

The issue I have mainly is this issue on the one hand we have the End Austerity speeches coming from the SNP all well and good if on the other hand we didn't have the constant harping on about the amount of debt. Then on the other spend spend spend . You can't reconcile the two more and more spending without piling on more debt which means the end result is more draconian cuts further down the line.

[Rheghead]

The issue I have mainly is this issue on the one hand we have the End Austerity speeches coming from the SNP all well and good if on the other hand we didn't have the constant harping on about the amount of debt. Then on the other spend spend spend . You can't reconcile the two more and more spending without piling on more debt which means the end result is more draconian cuts further down the line.

Spend a penny to earn a pound? Many industries are on their way out because they don't have the initial hurdle of investment to get going. New nuclear and HS2 are cases where the Government are actually taking a stance. But there are other industries, especially the renewable industry where real investment is seriously lacking. If that investment is directed into a nationalised industry on the scale of USA's New Deal or NASA then that infrastructure could reap longterm benefits for the future as well as short term jobs over the next 10 years. All them workers will pay tax and that money could go back into reinvesting into the country. What we have now is the tory policy of 'scrimp and save' on a massive scale and the economy is suffering because there is no money..

[Rheghead]

I saw this on facebook and agree with it.

The Left are Patriots because they want British institutions to remain in the hands of the British taxpayers who paid for them.
The Right are Traitors because they want to take British institutions out of British hands, and sell them off to foreign multi-nationals.

https://cablestreetbulldog.wordpress...-are-traitors/

[Oddquine]

It would be nice to see what the inquiry comes up with and there's nothing new with stuff being leaked.

Only issue I have is the conversation is reported to have been in English so I'm not so sure you can claim something was lost in translation.

I'd thoroughly agree Ed Milliband doesn't look like prime minister material and reality is David Cameron being prime minister would do the SNPs cause more good than harm long term.

It's not so hard to believe certainly not worth all the kerfuffle and waste of tax payers money now to be spent on finding out who said what.

Leaking is one thing........lying is something different.

Wasn't me who said that about the lost in translation..but which conversation was in English, the one with the Secretary of State, the FM and the French Ambassador.or the one on the phone between whoever wrote the Memo and the French Consul General...who wasn't privy to the conversation? It does make one wonder how it is that nobody in the media has bothered to ask Carmichael who was also there what was actually said, though........or might that spoil a good few days of misinformation in the hopes of damaging the SNP?

I assume you'd be happy to sweep all misdemeanours undertaken under Westminster auspices under the carpet to be ignored...no enquiries into anything they do which breaches probity, morality, rules, convention, the law etc if it's going to cost money? As well to be ruled by a sovereign elite who have one set of rules for us and a different set for themselves! Oh...wait.......that is how it is already in Westminster!

[BetterTogether]

Leaking is one thing........lying is something different. Wasn't me who said that about the lost in translation..but which conversation was in English, the one with the Secretary of State, the FM and the French Ambassador.or the one on the phone between whoever wrote the Memo and the French Consul General...who wasn't privy to the conversation? It does make one wonder how it is that nobody in the media has bothered to ask Carmichael who was also there what was actually said, though........or might that spoil a good few days of misinformation in the hopes of damaging the SNP? I assume you'd be happy to sweep all misdemeanours undertaken under Westminster auspices under the carpet to be ignored...no enquiries into anything they do which breaches probity, morality, rules, convention, the law etc if it's going to cost money? As well to be ruled by a sovereign elite who have one set of rules for us and a different set for themselves! Oh...wait.......that is how it is already in Westminster!

Until proven otherwise the veracity of the leak has to be taken at face value neither proven or unproven.

I am unaware as to whether Nicola Sturgeon is fluent in French maybe you can enlighten us on that issue otherwise it's fair to assume that she and the French ambassador would of spoken in English as would be customary.

Alistair Carmichael is a big boy if he was there I'm sure the press will be aware of that and ask his opinion but even if he where at the event it would be doubtful whether Ms Sturgeon would utter such a statement within his ear shot.

As for sweeping all misdemeanours under the carpet that is what I'd consider a fairly typical sweeping statement issue which are of a serious nature should be investigated thoroughly and dealt with accordingly regardless of party or position.

To try and claim that everything is run by a sovereign elite is just nationalistic rhetoric and typically divisive twaddle the SNP no doubt have their fair share of bad behaviour and people not playing totally by the rules. Employing relatives quickly springs to mind although virtually all other parties have stopped that little gravy train it still carries on within their ranks.
Let's not try painting SNP ministers as whiter than white and beyond reproach all ministers ideally should have all statements recorded for public viewing instead of all this hidden behind closed doors stuff that goes on currently including expenses available for scrutiny.
Unless it's a question of national security or such like then why shouldn't we know what our elected representatives are up to.
Regardless of party politics the unfortunate thing is they are all human and non of them perfect so should be held to the highest standards and dismissed when they fall below the par.

[squidge]

What we have here is a WM centric MSM which has failed to move on from last years referendum.

Despite the comments aimed at those of us supporting the SNP and the SNP itself that we "should get over it" or that we are somehow re running the referendum, nothing illustrates the fact that WE have moved on whilst much of the opposition have not. We see this in the papers, in the parties themselves, in the anti-scotland rhetoric published by the likes of the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, in the calls for the SNP to be treated as somehow not fit to have a voice in Westminster. On and on it goes.

The SNP and Nicola Sturgeon may, as has been suggested, find that a Tory Government is useful in persuading people that independence is the best way forward. The "democratic defecit" was and remains an important argument for Independence. The fact that Scotland's votes make little difference to the make up of the WM parliament and that Scotland has had a Government which its electorate did not elect so many times is an example of how Independence could ensure better representation.

However, this is a General Election, the SNP is NOT operating in an independent Scotland and THAT means that we need to consider the whole of the UK. Nicola Sturgeon has made is clear, categorically, unequivocally so that the SNP will not put the Tories in Government, that they WILL Work with a labour Government because that is best for Scotland AND the UK. A labour Government is better for the people of the UK and a large number of SNP MPs will hold that labour Government to its promises and to account for its actions in a way we have not seen being done in many years. This will benefit the whole of the UK.

The idea that Nicola Sturgeon would chatter loosely to someone she doesn't know in complete contradiction to what she has said every time she has been asked is ridiculous. The powers that be don't like this because it challenges the two party system which labour and the Tories think gives them an entitlement to do as they please. In coalition the libdems did nothing to challenge this, the SNP are likely to be a different proposition altogether and people everywhere are seeing this.

[Scout]

What we have here is a WM centric MSM which has failed to move on from last years referendum.

Despite the comments aimed at those of us supporting the SNP and the SNP itself that we "should get over it" or that we are somehow re running the referendum, nothing illustrates the fact that WE have moved on whilst much of the opposition have not. We see this in the papers, in the parties themselves, in the anti-scotland rhetoric published by the likes of the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, in the calls for the SNP to be treated as somehow not fit to have a voice in Westminster. On and on it goes.

The SNP and Nicola Sturgeon may, as has been suggested, find that a Tory Government is useful in persuading people that independence is the best way forward. The "democratic defecit" was and remains an important argument for Independence. The fact that Scotland's votes make little difference to the make up of the WM parliament and that Scotland has had a Government which its electorate did not elect so many times is an example of how Independence could ensure better representation.

However, this is a General Election, the SNP is NOT operating in an independent Scotland and THAT means that we need to consider the whole of the UK. Nicola Sturgeon has made is clear, categorically, unequivocally so that the SNP will not put the Tories in Government, that they WILL Work with a labour Government because that is best for Scotland AND the UK. A labour Government is better for the people of the UK and a large number of SNP MPs will hold that labour Government to its promises and to account for its actions in a way we have not seen being done in many years. This will benefit the whole of the UK.

The idea that Nicola Sturgeon would chatter loosely to someone she doesn't know in complete contradiction to what she has said every time she has been asked is ridiculous. The powers that be don't like this because it challenges the two party system which labour and the Tories think gives them an entitlement to do as they please. In coalition the libdems did nothing to challenge this, the SNP are likely to be a different proposition altogether and people everywhere are seeing this.

If the SNP has moved on why has Alex brought out book, The Dream Shall Never Die? and Nicola Sturgeon keeps on saying they will still look for independence.Most people from the south can see right through SNP idea.

[Rheghead]

Until proven otherwise the veracity of the leak has to be taken at face value neither proven or unproven.

There is no case to answer. The French diplomats dispute the story and so does Nicola. They were there at the meeting. The fact that you are encouraging doubt is reprehensible.

[sids]

There is no case to answer. The French diplomats dispute the story and so does Nicola. They were there at the meeting. The fact that you are encouraging doubt is reprehensible.

Is there anyone in the World happier to lie than a French diplomat?

Oh maybe- of course there's Nicola Sturgeon!