Lord Steel urges his party leader to 'get a grip' in the Lord Rennard scandal, he suggests Lib Dems drop Rennard suspension and that Rennard drops possible legal action, rather looks too late for compromise, Court action seems on the cards

Dear All

Sometime ago, Nick Clegg sold out his entire party by taking the Lib Dems into Government in Westminster.

He will get his name in the history books so generations know he was the Deputy Prime Minister.

The upshot of betraying his voters is that the Lib Dem vote has collapsed, and they are heading for possibly a major defeat at the next Westminster election in 2015.

Clegg was bought off cheap, ministerial salary and government perks.

Having lost control, Clegg and the Liberal Democrat leadership face a new crisis.

Lord Rennard!

It’s a sex scandal were claims have been made of alleged behavior of Rennard.

Because the scandal is brewing and no one is backing down, and the whole thing stinks to high heaven, former leader Lord Steel of Aikwood has said the leadership should "get a grip" to sort out the crisis engulfing the party.

One of the Lib Dems scandals that I remember was the Jeremy Thorpe scandal, this had a devastating effect on the party, this scandal could be as damaging.

It is said that there is a prospect of an all-out court battle, which will not go down well or cover anyone with glory in the leadership.

And a General election is so close to boot.

Internal sources say if Court is the order of the day, it would lead to a "bloodbath the like of which the party has not seen before".

The former Holyrood Presiding Officer warned:

"The first rule in politics is: if you're in a hole, stop digging."

He added:

"The fact is they have been digging on both sides for the past two days and it's disastrous."

To calm the waters, Steel says that the party should drop its suspension of Lord Rennard and he should withdraw his threat of legal action.

It is a bit for that late, too far down the road.

A senior LibDem source said of Steel’s suggestion, "obviously we disagree" and that reinstating Lord Rennard was "not going to sort it out".

Lord Rennard is the former election strategist who helped treble the number of LibDem MPs, apparently he feels attack is the best form of defence and has instructed a QC to see whether or not the decision to instigate a disciplinary inquiry against him is lawful.

If it isn’t it leaves the Lib Dem leadership on a sticky wicket.

Lord Rennard was suspended from the party and faces a disciplinary hearing for not apologising following an internal inquiry into the claims of sexual harassment.

He has steadfastly refused to do so because he denies the claims.

So; he is innocent or he is guilty, if innocent why should he apologise?

The inquiry found there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt to the allegations.

However, the report said that the claims were "broadly credible", so perhaps someone could explain in Court what that means

Clegg has been addressing LibDem MPs and peers at their weekly parliamentary meeting and emerged half an hour later stony-faced.

Nothing to be happy about, he is losing either way.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University