EVER HEARD the story about a French Ambassador, a First Minister and a leaky Scotland Office?
Well, if you haven’t, I will remind you.
It started with a full-blown establishment attack on the SNP and ended with the culprits having egg on their face.
It was a boomerang attack if ever I saw one missing its target by a mile, despite the pro-Tory newspaper the Daily Telegraph and then the BBC’s best efforts to spread the nonsensical allegation that Nicola Sturgeon had said she expressed support for David Cameron in a meeting with the French ambassador to the UK.
It was such nonsense that France’s consul general in Edinburgh took to Sky News to tell the public the First Minister had not done so. In fact, the subject on who the future PM might be was not even discussed.
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael, a Liberal Democrat, has confirmed the memo was written in the Scotland Office but had the audacity to claim “this is the middle of an election campaign, these things happen”.
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 politicians, including Ed Miliband and Jim Murphy continued to promote the story.
Then there was a flurry of deleted tweets from Labour politicians, including the candidate for Renfrewshire South and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander, who, in a bid to alter his record on the subject, also deleted his tweet promoting the Scotland Office fairy tale.
Labour will pay the price for jumping on this bandwagon. People don’t like this sort of skulduggery and expect more from their politicians.
You see, one of the main reasons thousands of people are flocking to the SNP is they are tired of the discredited Westminster establishment and the London parties’ antics.
This issue just plays up to people’s biggest concern the Westminster system.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood has now ordered an inquiry into how the note got into the public domain.
However, what does this mean for the general election campaign?
Well, I won’t hold my breath for a result of Sir Jeremy’s inquiry and to be honest, I expect more of the same in the run-up until May it is an election, after all.
We had the same in the indy ref. Remember the Treasury civil servant who issued an email leaking sensitive information about the Royal Bank of Scotland’s plans to formally register in London rather than Edinburgh in the event of a Yes vote?
This technical move was jumped on by the same media even though RBS made clear it would not mean jobs moving. Last month we found out the Treasury civil servant had links to the head of the No campaign surprise surprise.
So, back to politics as usual.
And that is exactly what Nicola Sturgeon wants to change. There is a clear demand for a new style of politics across the UK and that is why every time the First Minister goes on the television, the SNP membership rises.
The SNP’s meteoric rise has not been overnight, it has been growing steadily for the last 10 years.
After proving themselves in a minority government, they won 45% of the vote in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.
And that seems to be the magic number.
A total of 45% of Scotland voted Yes in the referendum, with a record turnout of more than 84% .
And the polls are predicting mid-40s for the SNP in the Westminster election.
One thing is for certain, it is a long time until May 7 in politics but if anywhere near the amount of people who voted Yes vote for the SNP, the SNP are set to hold the balance of power.
And they will use this support to give people in Scotland real power at Westminster for the first time.
However, it is not just Scotland that wants change. People across the whole of the UK are sick of a two-party system and the austerity agenda.
The Westminster establishment is being challenged as never before and the likelihood of no single party commanding an overall majority is a serious opportunity to bring about a real change from the norm, for Westminster anyway.
More Borgen than The Thick of It and far more European, democratic and interesting.
Nicola Sturgeon is telling us her email inbox is “overflowing” with English people who want to vote SNP, with requests for the party to stand candidates south of the Scottish border.
It’s not just Scotland, the whole of the UK is interested in a progressive alternative to Westminster and Westminster cuts.
The SNP says it will work to build a progressive alliance to end austerity and to protect vital public services like the NHS.
It’s a real alternative and no longer wishful thinking if only everyone in the UK could vote for it.
It is no wonder Tory Cabinet minister Michael Gove has now said he would rather see Scottish Labour MPs elected than SNP MPs.
That should tell you all you need to know. Real change, real progress and a real challenge to the Tories will only come with the SNP.