Alistair Webster QC has decided that the threshold for disciplining Lord Rennard for sexually inappropriate behaviour could not be met, and that the allegations could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Webster’s statement can be read on Lib Dem Voice, as can a statement from Lord Rennard. It is the stomach turning arrogance with which Rennard says he will return to the fold that makes the blood boil the most.
No apology, no contrition, just a brazen told-you-so attitude, as if nothing has happened. His legal representative, Lib Dem peer Lord Carlile, does him no favours either. Carlile has condemned the party membership for their response to Lord Rennard, and said that his friend has nothing to apologise for.
These responses are wholly at odds with Webster’s findings. The eminent QC who conducted the independent enquiry into Rennard found that ‘the evidence suggest that Lord Rennard’s behaviour has caused distress to a number of women,’ and described the evidence given by witnesses as ‘broadly credible’.
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