There was outrage last night as a Labour MP tweeted something an SNP tweeter said a Labour MP said about something an SNP tweeter said he’d tweeted.

In fact, the Labour MP said later he actually hadn’t said that at all and it was the SNP “bastirt” who’d mistakenly tweeted he said it, when in fact he’d only mentioned in passing something similar last year. And anyway, he said in a later tweet, that was wholly different because what was said last year was that the Tories are “dirty money-laundering bastards”.

This time what the SNP say was said but wasn’t concerns – or rather doesn’t because it was never said - his own Labour party also being “dirty money-laundering bastards”. This, he said in an angry tweet last night, was something he obviously wouldn’t say, would he? “And it’s outrageous the SNP would tweet that I did say it”.

The confusion appears to have occurred after the Herald said the Sunday Times said the Labour MP said something, which in fact someone in the SNP said. Everyone demanded that everyone else should retract anything they’ve ever said and tweeted in the interests of clarity and decent debate.