In his statement on Sunday night, Nick Clegg pointedly noted that Chris Rennard resigned as Liberal Democrat chief executive in 2009 on “health grounds”. The implicit suggestion was that Rennard’s departure was unrelated to the concerns raised over his behaviour towards female staff.
But on his phone-in show on LBC radio this morning, the Deputy Prime Minister changed his line. He told presenter Nick Ferrari: “His health was poor and that was the immediate reason he left but of course these things [the concerns over Rennard’s behaviour] were in the background.” When Channel 4 News’s Cathy Newman called into the programme and highlighted this inconsistency, Clegg repeated: “He left on health grounds but of course the issues of his inappropriate behaviour were in the background, of course they were”.
The questions the Deputy PM will need to answer are why he previously sought to give the impression that Rennard’s resignation was on health grounds alone and why, if his “inappropriate beaviour” was a factor in his departure, the former chief executive was allowed to return to a senior role in the party as a member of its federal policy committee.
Update: Here’s the moment that “Cathy in Dulwich” called Clegg.
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