Lord Rennard is taking advice about obtaining a legal injunction
Lord Rennard has hired a top lawyer in a bid to stop his suspension from the Liberal Democrats,
as sources close to the peer late Tuesday warned of a potential legal
"bloodbath" over the harassment allegations that could embarrass the
party.
The former Lib Dem chief executive is taking advice about obtaining a legal injunction, after the party launched an inquiry into his failure to apologise to the activists who accuse him of touching them inappropriately.
Sources close to the peer said he is still pushing for mediation but is prepared to go to court and have all the evidence aired in public. "Some people are warning of a bloodbath and if everything comes out, it will be," the source said.
It comes after some complainants accused Rennard's allies of trying to intimidate and spread smears against them. Alison Smith, a politics lecturer and activist, suggested on Twitter that there was a personal campaign against the women who had made complaints against the peer.
Another complainant, who did not want to be identified, said she felt threatened by claims from Lord Carlile, Rennard's legal adviser, that he had a devastating item of contradictory evidence against one of the accusers. "I don't like the veiled threats that they are going to expose our personal lives," she told the Guardian.
Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, appealed for calm at a meeting of MPs and peers, acknowledging the Lib Dems are going through a "difficult" period. However, the schism in the party showed no sign of closing as one of Clegg's predecessors, Lord Steel, called for Rennard's suspension to be lifted.
"Collectively, the party leadership should get a grip on this and say it's got to be reversed," he told ITV News. "There should not be a threat of expulsion. Chris Rennard should withdraw his threat of legal action and we should get this sorted out once and for all.
"There's no doubt that some offence was caused to women. That's not in doubt. The question is, can we now get an agreement to regret what happened in the past and make sure it doesn't happen again and get back to normal politics?"
Despite Clegg's insistence that the disciplinary process must be allowed to run its course, senior party figures pleaded with the peer to find some middle ground.
Lord Ashdown, a former party leader, said Rennard could simply protest his innocence and express general regret by way of an apology. "It goes like this: 'I assert my innocence. I do not believe I did this. But if inadvertently I created hurt for others, then I regret that,'" Ashdown told the BBC's Daily Politics show. He added that talk of civil action is "foolish and unwise".
However, Rennard now appears to be preparing for a court battle that could potential drag on until the next election and reveal details about the inner workings of Nick Clegg's party.
"A senior QC specialising in public law matters has been instructed and is advising Lord Rennard as to the lawfulness or otherwise of the decision to hold a second inquiry," a spokesman for the peer said.
Rennard's supporters argue that the grounds for opening up a second investigation into the lack of an apology are "built on quicksand".
A first inquiry by Alistair Webster QC found there was no proof Rennard behaved in a sexually inappropriate way, even though he concluded that the evidence of the women was "broadly credible" and that the peer may have violated their personal space.
However, a committee of Liberal Democrats suspended him pending an investigation into whether his lack of contrition had brought the party into disrepute.
According to the Liberal Democrat disciplinary rules for local and regional parties, this charge "has proven to be a very difficult area in the past". Its procedural guidelines lists three areas in which "bringing the party into disrepute" is likely to apply: serious criminal convictions, acting in breach of any postal vote code of conduct, or acting in a manner to bring the party into disrepute in secret.
David Howarth, a former Lib Dem MP, on Tuesday said he thought Rennard should apologise but questioned the new inquiry as a potential abuse of power.
"Chris has been suspended from membership on the basis not of any accusation that he has abused his power, or of any similar repudiation of the party's aims and values, but on the basis of an accusation that he refused to apologise 'as recommended by Alistair Webster QC'," he wrote on the Lib Dem Voice website.
"So what does the charge really consist of? Nick Clegg made clear last week, and again this morning, that it would be inappropriate for Lord Rennard to resume the Liberal Democrat whip unless he apologises. Lord Rennard has refused to do so. In other words, Chris is charged with defying the leader. Since when has that counted as bringing the party into disrepute?
"To threaten to throw Chris out of the party for refusing to do what the leader demands is itself a betrayal of what the party stands for. Who is abusing power now?"
One suggestion is that the party's federal executive should push for the involvement of a reconciliation body, such as Acas. But senior party sources have dismissed this idea as silly given that the Lib Dems are about to appoint a new investigator to take charge of the second inquiry. It is understood that Lord Macdonald, the Lib Dem peer and former director of public prosecutions, could take on this role, although it has not been confirmed.
Bridget Harris, one of the complainants, also rejected any plan that involved trying to make deal behind closed doors, saying an informal approach had caused many of the problems in the first place.
At the same time, Harris has not ruled out bringing legal action against the peer or the party over the allegations. The former adviser to Clegg told the BBC she was "taking the process one step at a time".
"In terms of civil action, how can I possibly say … what I would or wouldn't do, depending on the circumstances?"
The former Lib Dem chief executive is taking advice about obtaining a legal injunction, after the party launched an inquiry into his failure to apologise to the activists who accuse him of touching them inappropriately.
Sources close to the peer said he is still pushing for mediation but is prepared to go to court and have all the evidence aired in public. "Some people are warning of a bloodbath and if everything comes out, it will be," the source said.
It comes after some complainants accused Rennard's allies of trying to intimidate and spread smears against them. Alison Smith, a politics lecturer and activist, suggested on Twitter that there was a personal campaign against the women who had made complaints against the peer.
Another complainant, who did not want to be identified, said she felt threatened by claims from Lord Carlile, Rennard's legal adviser, that he had a devastating item of contradictory evidence against one of the accusers. "I don't like the veiled threats that they are going to expose our personal lives," she told the Guardian.
Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, appealed for calm at a meeting of MPs and peers, acknowledging the Lib Dems are going through a "difficult" period. However, the schism in the party showed no sign of closing as one of Clegg's predecessors, Lord Steel, called for Rennard's suspension to be lifted.
"Collectively, the party leadership should get a grip on this and say it's got to be reversed," he told ITV News. "There should not be a threat of expulsion. Chris Rennard should withdraw his threat of legal action and we should get this sorted out once and for all.
"There's no doubt that some offence was caused to women. That's not in doubt. The question is, can we now get an agreement to regret what happened in the past and make sure it doesn't happen again and get back to normal politics?"
Despite Clegg's insistence that the disciplinary process must be allowed to run its course, senior party figures pleaded with the peer to find some middle ground.
Lord Ashdown, a former party leader, said Rennard could simply protest his innocence and express general regret by way of an apology. "It goes like this: 'I assert my innocence. I do not believe I did this. But if inadvertently I created hurt for others, then I regret that,'" Ashdown told the BBC's Daily Politics show. He added that talk of civil action is "foolish and unwise".
However, Rennard now appears to be preparing for a court battle that could potential drag on until the next election and reveal details about the inner workings of Nick Clegg's party.
"A senior QC specialising in public law matters has been instructed and is advising Lord Rennard as to the lawfulness or otherwise of the decision to hold a second inquiry," a spokesman for the peer said.
Rennard's supporters argue that the grounds for opening up a second investigation into the lack of an apology are "built on quicksand".
A first inquiry by Alistair Webster QC found there was no proof Rennard behaved in a sexually inappropriate way, even though he concluded that the evidence of the women was "broadly credible" and that the peer may have violated their personal space.
However, a committee of Liberal Democrats suspended him pending an investigation into whether his lack of contrition had brought the party into disrepute.
According to the Liberal Democrat disciplinary rules for local and regional parties, this charge "has proven to be a very difficult area in the past". Its procedural guidelines lists three areas in which "bringing the party into disrepute" is likely to apply: serious criminal convictions, acting in breach of any postal vote code of conduct, or acting in a manner to bring the party into disrepute in secret.
David Howarth, a former Lib Dem MP, on Tuesday said he thought Rennard should apologise but questioned the new inquiry as a potential abuse of power.
"Chris has been suspended from membership on the basis not of any accusation that he has abused his power, or of any similar repudiation of the party's aims and values, but on the basis of an accusation that he refused to apologise 'as recommended by Alistair Webster QC'," he wrote on the Lib Dem Voice website.
"So what does the charge really consist of? Nick Clegg made clear last week, and again this morning, that it would be inappropriate for Lord Rennard to resume the Liberal Democrat whip unless he apologises. Lord Rennard has refused to do so. In other words, Chris is charged with defying the leader. Since when has that counted as bringing the party into disrepute?
"To threaten to throw Chris out of the party for refusing to do what the leader demands is itself a betrayal of what the party stands for. Who is abusing power now?"
One suggestion is that the party's federal executive should push for the involvement of a reconciliation body, such as Acas. But senior party sources have dismissed this idea as silly given that the Lib Dems are about to appoint a new investigator to take charge of the second inquiry. It is understood that Lord Macdonald, the Lib Dem peer and former director of public prosecutions, could take on this role, although it has not been confirmed.
Bridget Harris, one of the complainants, also rejected any plan that involved trying to make deal behind closed doors, saying an informal approach had caused many of the problems in the first place.
At the same time, Harris has not ruled out bringing legal action against the peer or the party over the allegations. The former adviser to Clegg told the BBC she was "taking the process one step at a time".
"In terms of civil action, how can I possibly say … what I would or wouldn't do, depending on the circumstances?"
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