Hansard changes Darling's slip

Mr Darling's words have been altered by Hansard

A new row has sprung up over the Scottish Secretary, Alistair Darling's description of the Scottish Parliament as an "assembly".

He made what was described as a "slip of the tongue" during Scottish Questions in the Commons on Tuesday.

In the written parliamentary record, Hansard, published on Wednesday, his words have been altered to read "parliament".

The Scottish National Party has accused officials of ensuring Mr Darling is shielded from historical embarrassment.

An official at the Scotland Office denied that Mr Darling had requested the record be changed, but has admitted the error was pointed out to Hansard.

A spokeswoman insisted the mistake had already been noticed by Hansard, which had decided to amend the official record.

'Mass confusion'

Opposition parties and some Labour MPs have criticised the new arrangements, where Mr Darling holds the post of Scottish secretary and that of UK transport secretary.

Former SNP leader Mr Salmond said the mistake suggested Mr Darling was too busy to be "in command of his brief" and asked for the official record to be changed back to what actually happened, "rather than what the Secretary of State for Scotland wanted to happen".

Speaker Michael Martin conceded an alteration had been made. "The official report did edit the reference by the Secretary of State for Scotland from the 'assembly' in Holyrood to the 'parliament'."

But he said it was normal practice for Hansard to correct obvious mistakes and "this is what happened on this occasion".