THE new leader of the Liberal Democrats has sparked controversy on his first full day in the job after he claimed his only Scottish MP should be "given a break" over revelations that he leaked an inaccurate memo about Nicola Sturgeon then lied about it.
Tim Farron, who defeated Norman Lamb on Thursday evening, said that "most decent people" would think that Alistair Carmichael should be given a second chance despite being under pressure to quit his role as MP for Orkney and Shetland.
Following the General Election, it emerged that Mr Carmichael, then the Scottish Secretary, had authorised his special advisor to pass a confidential memo to the Daily Telegraph. It contained claims that Ms Sturgeon had told the French Ambassador that she wanted the Tories to win the general election, contradicting her public statements at the time, and did not believe Ed Miliband was Prime Minister material.
He then said that he was unaware of the memo, a claim which was later found to be untrue. He is facing legal action from some constituents who are hoping the courts will order a rerun, and has since accepted that the memo was not accurate.
Mr Farron, who won 56.5 per cent of votes cast by party members, baked Mr Carmichael to stay on. He said: "Most decent people - and most people are decent people - think people deserve a second chance.
"Alistair has made a very, very fulsome apology and I think most decent people in Scotland, and in Orkney and Shetland in particular and across the country think, fair enough, give the guy a break.
"A handful of people want to pursue it, that is their right, but I think it speaks more about them than they would want it to be said."
He also insisted that his party had been right to go into coalition with the Conservatives, despite accepting that the decision had been behind a disastrous result in May and voting against some of the more controversial policies. The Liberal Democrats currently have only eight MPs, down from almost 60.
"I don't think it was a mistake at all," he said. "If you go back to 2010, the alternatives to going into coalition with the Tories was sitting on our hands doing nothing, turning our noses up at the faintest whiff of power, then letting there be an October general election that the Tories would have won. When you get power offered to you, you should take it in politics. I didn't join the Liberals as a career move, for pity's sake, but neither did I join to cop out and avoid power."
Mr Farron's support for Mr Carmichael came after he also controversy during the party leadership campaign when he launched an outspoken attack on the SNP. He described the party's attitude to civil liberties as "terrifying", leading to claims that he was attention seeking.
SNP MP for Glenrothes, Peter Grant, said he had learned all he needed to about Mr Farron from his claims that it had not been a mistake for the LibDems to go into partnership with the Tories.
He added: "On Alistair Carmichael, Mr Farron claims that most people want to move on and give Mr Carmichael a second chance. However, the fact remains that Mr Carmichael contested the election in May on false pretences, claiming that he knew nothing of the dirty tricks campaign against Nicola Sturgeon when it was in fact orchestrated from his own ministerial office.
"There is an investigation into Mr Carmichael's conduct by Westminster's Standards Commissioner, and of course the election court hearing has still to take place - the decent thing would be for Mr Farron to show some respect for these important processes as they take their course."
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