DEFENCE Secretary Ben Wallace has been accused of “political game playing” after not mentioning Tory MPs Ben Everitt and Christian Wakeford who are alleged to have gone out drinking until the early hours during a parliamentary trip to Gibraltar.
Earlier the Tories were accused of creating a "disgusting political smear" of two SNP MPs and one Labour MP ahead of Armistice Day.
Drew Hendry, David Linden and an unnamed female Labour MP were taking part in an Armed Forces parliamentary visit to Gibraltar for Armistice Day as part of a cross party group.
However, several newspapers were briefed last night on the two SNP members reportedly being drunk and disorderly while on the British Airways flight to Gibraltar.
READ MORE: Tories accused of 'disgusting smear' of SNP MPs on trip to Gibraltar
The two SNP MPs denied the claims and described them as a smear. The party has also suggested the briefing to the newspapers was designed to divert attention away from the on goiing sleaze row engulfing Boris Johnson's Government.
Now Wallace is being accused of "political game playing" over the briefing given to journalists.
Some 15 MPs have been visiting Gibraltar this week for a three-day trip over Armistice Day with the All-Party Forces Parliamentary group.
A source close to the AFPS trip said: "People are staggered by the hypocrisy of Ben Wallace and his ill-advised attempts to drag the armed forces into political game playing.
“It was a serious error of judgement on his behalf, which has spectacularly backfired, given two Conservative MPs were out on the lash in until the early hours.
“If anything is disrespectful, its Conservative MPs turning up hungover to official events with service personnel on the eve of Armistice Day."
The SNP are believed to see the incident as a dead cat strategy trying to divert attention from the current sleaze scandal around the UK Government.
An SNP spokesperson said: "These suggestions are false. Drew Hendry MP and David Linden MP were honoured to be invited to this important event and attended all engagements, including the welcome meeting and dinner shortly after landing.
“Instead of trying to divert attention from the Tory corruption scandal engulfing Westminster, Ben Wallace should be apologising for his role in it, including voting to get Owen Paterson off the hook."
They later added: "There is no excuse for Tory ministers dragging our armed forces into silly political point scoring, on an occasion when we must all stand united.
"In a botched attempt to divert media attention from the Tory sleaze scandal, Mr Wallace has only raised further questions about the behaviour of his own Tory MPs.
"This bungling boomerang attack has left Mr Wallace with egg all over his face and serious questions to answer about his judgement."
The Ministry of Defence has been approached for comment to see if Wallace would like to respond to the claims.
Ben Everitt and Christian Wakeford have been asked if they would like to respond to the allegations.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel