The crucial moment during the Scottish referendum campaign was the pledge made by the three English-based party leaders that, in return for voting No, further powers would be devolved to Scotland.
The promise by David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband was published exclusively by the Glasgow-based Daily Record.
Its agenda-setting front page on 16 September, headlined "The Vow", had an enormous impact on the campaign.
But, aside from its eye-catching presentation, it transpires that the newspaper itself was responsible for the wording of the pledge.
According to email correspondence published by Wings over Scotland - a political blog that favours Scottish independence - the Record created the "document."
The truth emerged when someone asked Miliband's office to provide a copy of the so-called vow. A spokesperson replied:
"There is no official document, it was something that the Daily Record mocked up."
That revelation prompted something of a Twitter storm. So the Record's editor, Murray Foote, felt obliged to explain in a signed statement on the Record's Facebook page:
"Fact: the three party leaders negotiated and agreed the words used in The Vow.
Fact: all three agreed to put their signatures to The Vow.
Fact: it was first published in the Daily Record, Scotland's most influential newspaper, and then followed up by every news outlet in the country.
To suggest that the lack of an official 'document' is in any way significant or that it reduces Cameron, Miliband and Clegg's commitment to The Vow is wrong.
The SNP and Greens currently sit side by side with representatives of the three leaders in the Smith Commission actively negotiating new powers for Scotland - just like it said in The Vow."
Clever creative journalism? Covert political spin? Clearly, the Wings over Scotland owner, the Reverend Stuart Campbell, sees it as the latter.
The Vow, he wrote, "was solely a confection of the newspaper, who therefore bear the responsibility for it. If and when the time comes, let's all remember who we're holding to account."
I'm altogether less exercised by it. I go with the "clever creative journalism". It was a stunning intervention in the debate and it is the three party leaders who should be held to account.
The Labour-supporting Record didn't conceal its support for the No vote. But my hunch, given the latest opinion poll dramas facing Labour, is that the paper may well find itself on the wrong side of history if it continues to ignore the surge in support for the SNP and the continuing pressure among the young for independence.
