Ok, so it’s not the most exciting headline in the world. After all, nocturnal imbibing of spirits is pretty commonplace.

However, when the man in question is Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael breaking his month long abstinence having raised, at the time of writing, £4,235 for Macmillan Cancer Support, it is appropriate to mark the occasion.

The last time Alistair had a drink, he wasn’t in the Cabinet, Scotland still had an outside chance of qualifying for the World Cup finals and the third Bridget Jones book was still under lock and key at the publishers. He was finally able to celebrate/commiserate in traditional style. His tipple of choice was, in my opinion, the world’s finest single malt, Orkney’s Highland Park.

It seemed that half of Facebook was up to celebrate with him to enjoy the occasion. He told us:

I jush’ want to say thank you all for donating and I wan’ you all to know I love you all and I think you are all magnicifent. Time for bed said Zebedee. Boing!

[For the benefit of anyone reading this on Guido – this is not for real but a joke. I am I full control of all my faculties and shall be on parade, bright eyed and bushy tailed at Glasgow Central Station talking about High Speed rail with my good friend Baroness Kramer at 7.30am

It’s great to see that Alistair and his rival Sheila Ritchie were the two highest fundraisers in the UK. Sheila’s triumph over Alistair was pretty comprehensive, at the time of writing £5,168.05 to Alistair’s £4,235. In total, that’s £9,403.05. Surely to goodness we can find between us all the necessary £596.95 to get them into five figures. Behind all the fun, humour and banter, as I wrote yesterday, this Go Sober malarkey actually matters. This month has not been easy for either of them, so what better way to reward the efforts of two people who despite their own discomfort have entertained us royally.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social