A row has broken out on the northern isles over claims the late Jo Grimond would not have supported the current Liberal Democrats.
SNP candidate Danus Skene suggested the former Liberal leader, who represented Orkney and Shetland from 1950 to 1983, would be “pretty dissatisfied” with the party today.
But Johnny Grimond, the son of the former MP, rejected the remarks.
He confirmed that his father knew Mr Skene, who was previously a Lib Dem, before switching to the Nationalists.
“I’m not saying there wasn’t some common ground over the years, but I think the person who’s shifted is Danus,” said Mr Grimond.
“I don’t think that he has any right to presume to be able to read my father’s mind and say that my father would no longer be loyal to today’s Liberal Democrats.
“I don’t think he would have changed his tune about nationalism, Scottish nationalism and the Union. He thought about this so much during his life and he wrote about it.”
Mr Skene said he respected the family, and that he and Mr Grimond had “agreed to differ”.
“Jo died before devolution. I’m not, emphatically not, claiming that Jo was an advocate of independence,” he said.
“What I am saying is that his political criteria, which had considerable influence on me, led me to a Yes vote.”
A supporter of Scottish home rule, Mr Grimond cemented the Liberal tradition on the northern isles which was carried on in the last three parliaments by Alistair Carmichael, the Scottish secretary.
As well as Mr Carmichael and Mr Skene, the seat is being contested next week by Donald Cameron for the Conservatives, Gerry McGarvey from Labour and Ukip’s Robert Smith.