Call by Lib Dem leader for Rennard to be kept out of party will be controversial given peer's many allies in the Lords
Nick Clegg is facing a trial of strength with some Liberal Democrat peers after calling for Lord Rennard, the former party chief executive, to lose the party whip in the Lords unless he agrees to apologise for his behaviour.
Clegg said he would be discussing with the matter with the party's chief whip in the Lords, and might go as far as expelling Rennard from the party on the basis that he has brought it into disrepute.
Rennard has many strong supporters in the Lords, and the call by Clegg for Rennard to be kept out of the party will be controversial.
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: "Nick Clegg is of the view that as long as Lord Rennard refuses the very reasonable request from Alistair Webster QC to apologise then it is inappropriate for him to rejoin the Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords. Nick has communicated this to the chief whip and leader of the House of Lords group.
"In addition, a growing number of party members have come forward to make representations to the party that Lord Rennard's refusal to apologise in itself brings the party into disrepute."
More than 100 Liberal Democrat activists and the party's youth wing signed a letter urging Nick Clegg to demand the withdrawal of the whip from Rennard unless the peer apologised following over allegations that he harassed women.
The Lib Dem spokesman added: "The lords chief whip and leader of the House of Lords group will be discussing the matter with party HQ and will review the reinstatement of the whip on this basis."
Supporters of Rennard argued that the inquiry by Webster had not found any evidence of wrongdoing to a criminal standard of proof.
The letter from the party activists urging the withdrawal of the whip from Rennard is written by members of the Rock the Boat: Lib Dems Against Sexual Harassment group, which said it was deeply troubling that Clegg will would not withdraw the party whip act in the absence of an appropriate statement of regret by the peer at the centre of the controversy.
"We note with deep regret the failure of senior members of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party to denounce in the strongest possible terms Lord Rennard's behaviour; the reports of which are described as 'credible' by the investigating QC. It is deeply troubling that demands by the leadership for an apology were not clearly linked to sanctions that would include, at a minimum, withdrawal of the party whip."
The letter's signatories include the party's youth wing, Liberal Youth, former parliamentary candidates, local councillors, the co-chair of the Social Liberal Forum group, and the chair of the Liberal Left group.
It said: "We believe that until he apologises and acknowledges the distress that his actions have caused, regardless of intent, he should never have had the Liberal Democrat whip restored and should be barred from any party body or involvement in any party activity that might facilitate a repeat of this situation. No apology; no whip."
The activists' letter emerged after the party inquiry found the its former chief executive may have invaded the personal space of some women but there was not enough evidence to say his behaviour was sexually inappropriate.
Many MPs and fellow peers strongly support the former election guru strategist and feel it is unjust that Clegg has already asked for demanding an apology as after the whip was restored. One senior parliamentarian told the Guardian he thought Rennard had been treated "appallingly" and the liberal principle of "innocent until proven guilty" had been thrown out of the window during the process, in which the peer has not been allowed to see the report into his conduct.
He also said only four women came forward to give evidence, despite one of the complainants claiming at least 10 members had been affected.
But despite this support for Rennard from many in Westminster, the large group number of grassroots members behind the letter are now demanding that he lose his seat on the party's benches in the Lords and its influential federal policy committee.
Complainants Bridget Harris, an ex-adviser to Clegg, and former candidates Alison Smith, Alison Goldsworthy, and Susan Gaszczak, are calling for an apology from Rennard at a minimum. However, the situation appears to be at a stalemate, with Rennard potentially returning to the Lib Dem benches of the Lords on Monday.
Rennard denies all of the allegations, and his legal adviser, Lord Carlile, has rejected the idea of an apology as there was no proof Rennard had committed a misdemeanour. The letter from activists also came as Lord Steel, the former Liberal leader of the Liberal party, told the Guardian that the party Lib Dem party "has not covered itself in glory" over the affair.
"The whole business was very messy. I just thought the whole thing was an unbelievable mess for a whole year – unbelievable. And I gather we've now appointed somebody called the pastoral care person or something. Really? I mean, what have we come to that we need someone like that? Sitting in party headquarters? Extraordinary. The whole thing is bizarre."
In his interview with the Guardian, Steel also said he felt sorry for Clegg, because he had developed an unfortunate image as someone who had lost some of the values of his party.
"I do feel sorry for him, because I think, OK, he's got the fun of being in government," he said. "But the problem is, Cameron and Clegg as a duo come across as people who are interested in being in government as an end in itself. That's what it looks like. I don't know why, they're both very able. But that's the impression, that's what they communicate: 'We're in government! We're doing great things!'
"But what makes them tick? You hear Conservatives complaining about David Cameron, and Liberal Democrats complaining about Nick Clegg, and the complaint is the same in both cases: 'What is making them tick? What's happened to the values of the party?' So the image, I think, is unfortunate. That's why I feel sorry for him, because I don't know what he can do about it."
theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Nick Clegg faces trial of strength over Lord Rennard
Patrick Wintour, Rowena Mason, Decca Aitkenhead
Sat, 18 Jan 2014 09:31:27 GMT
No comments:
Post a Comment