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| Scottish Secretary confirms Nicola Sturgeon memo 'written in Scotland Office' | Scottish Secretary confirms Nicola Sturgeon memo 'written in Scotland Office' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A leaked civil service memo which claimed SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she would prefer David Cameron to stay on as prime minister was written in the UK Government's Scotland office. | A leaked civil service memo which claimed SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she would prefer David Cameron to stay on as prime minister was written in the UK Government's Scotland office. |
| Alistair Carmichael, the Scottish secretary, confirmed it was written in the Scotland Office but said it was "just one of those things" and denied it was embarrassing for him. | Alistair Carmichael, the Scottish secretary, confirmed it was written in the Scotland Office but said it was "just one of those things" and denied it was embarrassing for him. |
| Sturgeon, who has said the claims in the memo are "100 per cent untrue", is alleged to have said Ed Miliband was not "PM material" in a private conversation with Sylvie Bermann, the French Ambassador, on 26 February. | Sturgeon, who has said the claims in the memo are "100 per cent untrue", is alleged to have said Ed Miliband was not "PM material" in a private conversation with Sylvie Bermann, the French Ambassador, on 26 February. |
| Bermann has also denied the memo's claim. Carmichael told Channel 4: "I understand that the memo in question did actually come from the Scotland Office, but these things circulate within government." | |
| "Of course as the Secretary of State for Scotland I am responsible for the Scotland Office, but you seem to be making some fairly substantial presumptions about the role of the Scotland office in this, that’s why we’re having a proper inquiry." | "Of course as the Secretary of State for Scotland I am responsible for the Scotland Office, but you seem to be making some fairly substantial presumptions about the role of the Scotland office in this, that’s why we’re having a proper inquiry." |
| Sturgeon described the contents of the memo, which also included a dismissal of Ed Miliband as not "PM material", as "categorically, 100 per cent not true". | Sturgeon described the contents of the memo, which also included a dismissal of Ed Miliband as not "PM material", as "categorically, 100 per cent not true". |
| Head of the civil service Sir Jeremy Heywood has ordered an inquiry into how it came to be seen by The Telegraph. | Head of the civil service Sir Jeremy Heywood has ordered an inquiry into how it came to be seen by The Telegraph. |
| Sturgeon has since offered Labour’s Ed Miliband a deal to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street, even if the Conservatives win more seats in the election. | Sturgeon has since offered Labour’s Ed Miliband a deal to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street, even if the Conservatives win more seats in the election. |
| Writing in The Observer, Sturgeon challenged him to take his party into an anti-austerity pact with Labour if they have the seats to defeat the Conservatives, “regardless of which is the biggest party” and despite Miliband ruling out a formal coalition. | Writing in The Observer, Sturgeon challenged him to take his party into an anti-austerity pact with Labour if they have the seats to defeat the Conservatives, “regardless of which is the biggest party” and despite Miliband ruling out a formal coalition. |