THE diplomat at the centre of the phoney “Frenchgate” scandal involving former LibDem Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael has quit Scotland.
Pierre-Alain Coffinier left at the end of August after five years as the Consul General in Edinburgh, it has emerged. He is now working at a military think tank in Paris, the French National Institute for Advanced Studies in Security and Justice. The Consulate, where Emmanuel Cocher is now in charge, said Coffinier had gone after a standard length of service.
However, his role in Frenchgate had raised questions about his credibility in Scotland. After Nicola Sturgeon met French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann in March, it was Coffinier who briefed the Scotland Office on allegedly explosive
remarks by the First Minister.
According to a memo written by a civil servant who spoke to Coffinier, Sturgeon told Bermann she wanted David Cameron to remain in Downing Street. The First Minister was also alleged to have said Ed Miliband was not up to the job of PM.
If true, the remarks would have been deeply damaging to Sturgeon, as she had repeatedly denounced Cameron and offered to work with Miliband.
Carmichael and his special adviser Euan Roddin secretly agreed to leak the memo to the Daily Telegraph in April to damage the SNP ahead of the General Election.
But the move backfired – the memo was shown to be wrong and the UK Government stood accused of dirty tricks. Carmichael denied all knowledge of the leak on TV, a lie which later sparked a legal action to remove him as the MP for Orkney and Shetland.
Last week, the first election court held in Scotland for 50 years refused to accept Carmichael’s argument that the attempt to unseat him was incompetent.
Carmichael’s QC Roddy Dunlop has asked the court to throw out the petition “as irrelevant” and claimed it was “bound to fail” in law.
However, Lady Paton and Lord Matthews said they wanted to hear further evidence, opening up the possibility that Carmichael may be forced to testify about his lie.
A spokeswoman for the French Consulate said: “M Emmanuel Cocher has taken up his duties as Consul General on September 1, 2015 and succeeds M Pierre-Alain Coffinier, who terminated his tour of duty on August 31.
“In French diplomacy, you take a post abroad for three to five years then you move on to another position in the network.”
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