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| Chris Huhne: I am sorry | Chris Huhne: I am sorry |
| (7 months later) | |
| Chris Huhne, the jailed former cabinet member, has apologised unreservedly for lying for two years about asking his wife to taking speeding points, saying he felt "awful that people I love have been dragged into this gruelling experience". | Chris Huhne, the jailed former cabinet member, has apologised unreservedly for lying for two years about asking his wife to taking speeding points, saying he felt "awful that people I love have been dragged into this gruelling experience". |
| In an interview with the Guardian hours before he was sentenced to eight months in prison, he said: "I am sorry. I want to say that to family, to friends, to constituents and to colleagues, and more broadly to everybody who cares passionately about the causes I care about, including saving the planet for our children and our grandchildren." | In an interview with the Guardian hours before he was sentenced to eight months in prison, he said: "I am sorry. I want to say that to family, to friends, to constituents and to colleagues, and more broadly to everybody who cares passionately about the causes I care about, including saving the planet for our children and our grandchildren." |
| Huhne made one wider plea about his character and his behaviour in his marriage, saying: "I was not in court to answer … things that were said about me. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a bully and that I don't bully people. My reputation is not that. | Huhne made one wider plea about his character and his behaviour in his marriage, saying: "I was not in court to answer … things that were said about me. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a bully and that I don't bully people. My reputation is not that. |
| "It is true I may be prepared to say harsh things to people who are my own size or bigger than me. But I am very proud that I am not the kind of person that behaves like that to anyone who is not in a position to respond." | "It is true I may be prepared to say harsh things to people who are my own size or bigger than me. But I am very proud that I am not the kind of person that behaves like that to anyone who is not in a position to respond." |
| Asked how he had embarked on a course of lies for so long, and to so many people, he said: "It is just too easy to rationalise, at the beginning. You think this is just a ridiculously small misjudgment to destroy your career, and you just hope that something will turn up to stop the consequences, and it does not." | Asked how he had embarked on a course of lies for so long, and to so many people, he said: "It is just too easy to rationalise, at the beginning. You think this is just a ridiculously small misjudgment to destroy your career, and you just hope that something will turn up to stop the consequences, and it does not." |
| He said: "I have to accept responsibility, and I should not have asked my ex-wife to take my speeding points, and I should not have lied on an official form, and I should not have tried to evade the consequences. | He said: "I have to accept responsibility, and I should not have asked my ex-wife to take my speeding points, and I should not have lied on an official form, and I should not have tried to evade the consequences. |
| "I want, and have, to say sorry for not owning up when the story first came out. I should have owned up and got on with doing something else with my career. Lawmakers can be many things, but they cannot be lawbreakers." | "I want, and have, to say sorry for not owning up when the story first came out. I should have owned up and got on with doing something else with my career. Lawmakers can be many things, but they cannot be lawbreakers." |
| Huhne has remained silent ever since he pleaded guilty to the charge of perverting the course of justice after he lost an 18-month legal battle to keep the case from going to trial. | Huhne has remained silent ever since he pleaded guilty to the charge of perverting the course of justice after he lost an 18-month legal battle to keep the case from going to trial. |
| He told the Guardian: "I changed my plea for two reasons. I did not want to go to court and lie. I did not want to perjure myself further. In the past, people have got themselves into further trouble when they have tried to do that. That is the lesson people should learn. People should stop things, essentially." | He told the Guardian: "I changed my plea for two reasons. I did not want to go to court and lie. I did not want to perjure myself further. In the past, people have got themselves into further trouble when they have tried to do that. That is the lesson people should learn. People should stop things, essentially." |
| He also admitted that "going into court in a bloody battle with my ex-wife, who is the mother of my three lovely children, would have been dreadful". | He also admitted that "going into court in a bloody battle with my ex-wife, who is the mother of my three lovely children, would have been dreadful". |
| Referring to the toll the two-year public fallout from his divorce has had on those closest to him, he says: "I feel awful that so many people I love have been dragged into this. It has been a gruelling experience for all of them to be subject to this media harassment and intrusion. They need time and space to get over this. | Referring to the toll the two-year public fallout from his divorce has had on those closest to him, he says: "I feel awful that so many people I love have been dragged into this. It has been a gruelling experience for all of them to be subject to this media harassment and intrusion. They need time and space to get over this. |
| "I am at least hopeful that the relationships with my children that suffered most at the time of the breakup and divorce can be slowly healed, and some of them are slowly healing. That, for me, is the most encouraging thing that can come out of all this." | "I am at least hopeful that the relationships with my children that suffered most at the time of the breakup and divorce can be slowly healed, and some of them are slowly healing. That, for me, is the most encouraging thing that can come out of all this." |
| The collapse of Huhne's relationship with his youngest son, Peter, was painfully displayed in the court case when text exchanges with his son were read out in court. | The collapse of Huhne's relationship with his youngest son, Peter, was painfully displayed in the court case when text exchanges with his son were read out in court. |
| Asked if he wanted to discuss either how his marriage collapsed, or some of the allegations made about his treatment of his wife, he said: "Sometimes it is better to turn the other cheek. I have never rebutted anything directly, or indirectly, in the press precisely because I was concerned about the family consequences. So in the end it was the right thing to do to plead guilty and to take responsibility for the things I have done." | Asked if he wanted to discuss either how his marriage collapsed, or some of the allegations made about his treatment of his wife, he said: "Sometimes it is better to turn the other cheek. I have never rebutted anything directly, or indirectly, in the press precisely because I was concerned about the family consequences. So in the end it was the right thing to do to plead guilty and to take responsibility for the things I have done." |
| He also insisted that he had hoped his former wife would have been found not guilty when she tried to persuade a jury in two separate trials that she had been the victim of marital coercion when she agreed to take the speeding points, nearly 10 years ago. He said simply: "I very much hoped that she was not going to be found guilty, for the sake of the family." | He also insisted that he had hoped his former wife would have been found not guilty when she tried to persuade a jury in two separate trials that she had been the victim of marital coercion when she agreed to take the speeding points, nearly 10 years ago. He said simply: "I very much hoped that she was not going to be found guilty, for the sake of the family." |
| Huhne also discusses the apparent disjuncture between the speeding offence and the collapse of his political career, saying: "I have been inundated with sympathetic letters and emails, and I would like to thank everyone who sent me those. They have been a comfort to me. | Huhne also discusses the apparent disjuncture between the speeding offence and the collapse of his political career, saying: "I have been inundated with sympathetic letters and emails, and I would like to thank everyone who sent me those. They have been a comfort to me. |
| "Many have argued that we all make mistakes, and its crazy that an offence committed by so many can be so devastating. But for me, just because the legal system turns a blind eye to one case does not mean that it can, or should, in my case. It was, frankly, neither here nor there. What I did was wrong, and two wrongs would not make a right." | "Many have argued that we all make mistakes, and its crazy that an offence committed by so many can be so devastating. But for me, just because the legal system turns a blind eye to one case does not mean that it can, or should, in my case. It was, frankly, neither here nor there. What I did was wrong, and two wrongs would not make a right." |
| Huhne was speaking to the Guardian before he knew the extent of his prison sentence. He had been waiting at home for three weeks for his ex-wife's trial to be completed, forcing him to think hard about the prospect of months behind bars. | Huhne was speaking to the Guardian before he knew the extent of his prison sentence. He had been waiting at home for three weeks for his ex-wife's trial to be completed, forcing him to think hard about the prospect of months behind bars. |
| He tried to show the fortitude friends say he has displayed in private ever since he pleaded guilty, saying simply: "Of course I do not want to go to prison. Losing freedom hurts, but I understand this is the normal sentence for the offence of passing on speeding points. I will not be the first person to go to prison, and I will not be the last." It is understood he intends to write while he is in prison. | He tried to show the fortitude friends say he has displayed in private ever since he pleaded guilty, saying simply: "Of course I do not want to go to prison. Losing freedom hurts, but I understand this is the normal sentence for the offence of passing on speeding points. I will not be the first person to go to prison, and I will not be the last." It is understood he intends to write while he is in prison. |
| But he admits that the end of his career is hard to stomach since, he says, he was totally committed to the green agenda he espoused in office. He said: "The thing, apart from the damage to my family, that hurts most in this process was the fact that I had been so involved in the party as the spokesman for the environment. In opposition, I put in place the party's policy on carbon emission and climate change. Losing the job that I really wanted, prepared for and cared about passionately is by far the worst public part of this process." | But he admits that the end of his career is hard to stomach since, he says, he was totally committed to the green agenda he espoused in office. He said: "The thing, apart from the damage to my family, that hurts most in this process was the fact that I had been so involved in the party as the spokesman for the environment. In opposition, I put in place the party's policy on carbon emission and climate change. Losing the job that I really wanted, prepared for and cared about passionately is by far the worst public part of this process." |
| Huhne has already been thinking about how to rebuild his life when his sentence is over. He said, calmly: "As to the future, I can draw some consolation in that, unlike some people in politics that have only been in politics, as a special adviser or as MP or minister, this is my third career. I know I can do other things because I have done them. It gives me a certain ability to have the confidence that, with the trust and help of others, I can do something positive at the end of this process. | Huhne has already been thinking about how to rebuild his life when his sentence is over. He said, calmly: "As to the future, I can draw some consolation in that, unlike some people in politics that have only been in politics, as a special adviser or as MP or minister, this is my third career. I know I can do other things because I have done them. It gives me a certain ability to have the confidence that, with the trust and help of others, I can do something positive at the end of this process. |
| "All I will say about my marriage is that I never rebutted anything she said." | "All I will say about my marriage is that I never rebutted anything she said." |
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