DOUGLAS ALEXANDER DELETES "DIRTY TRICKS" TWEET

The Scottish National Party commented on reports that Labour candidate for Renfrewshire South and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander has deleted his tweet promoting a false story in the Daily Telegraph that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the French Ambassador she preferred David Cameron as Prime Minister - as recorded in a memo written by a UK Government official.

Despite the First Minister, France's Consul General and a spokesperson for France's Ambassador to the UK all making it clear within two hours of the story breaking that the memo's claims were false, Labour figures including Ed Miliband continued to promote the untrue story.

While some Labour politicians such as Malcolm Chisholm made clear that he was “appalled by Daily Telegraph”, Jim Murphy refused to say when asked at the weekend whether he was embarrassed about leaping on the memo after it was shown to be false.

SNP General Election campaign coordinator Angus Robertson said:

“Labour are paying the price for jumping on the dirty tricks bandwagon - their rush to leap upon this bogus story has backfired badly on them, which is the only reason why Douglas Alexander would be trying to alter the record.

“Jim Murphy refused to say whether he regrets Labour's actions, but now Douglas Alexander is busy deleting his tweets - they are in disarray, and it serves them right for believing pro-Tory newspapers.

"This sorry episode shows just how far removed from their roots Labour have become, and how panicked they are by strong SNP support."