Lord Rennard in secret Lib Dem talks over misconduct crisis

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/07/lord-rennard-liberal-democrats-misconduct

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Lord Rennard, the former Liberal Democrat chief executive, and the four party activists who have accused him of sexual misconduct have been in secret talks to resolve the dispute, the Guardian has learned.

Claims were made last February that the peer had behaved improperly towards female party members – allegations which Rennard has strenuously denied.

Efforts to secure a successful mediation between Rennard and the four activists have been under way in private for weeks, but have so far not reached an agreement.

The failure of the talks is putting pressure on the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, to reactivate an inquiry into whether Rennard has brought the party into disrepute for failing to offer an apology to the women, as had been recommended by a previous inquiry.

Rennard's allies let it be known on 10 February that the party had three days' notice to lift his suspension from the party or face a legal challenge. The threat of legal action never materialised; confidential mediation began instead, allowing the issue to fade from the media for the past two months.

The party said it had appointed a lawyer, Chris Willmore, an academic, party member and former barrister, in February to conduct the inquiry, but party sources said no inquiry had been launched in order to give time for the confidential process of mediation to work.

Two months later, the issue remains unresolved and one party source said the delay could not go on for ever.

Rennard was suspended for 14 weeks in January, but the party said on Monday that the peer was suspended pending the outcome of the disciplinary process, with the 14-week suspension deadline not beginning until an investigation started. That would only happen whenever the mediation process broke down.

Many party members are anxious for the issue to remain out of the spotlight at least until after the European elections on 22 May.

The two sides, on the surface, seemed a long way apart on whether Rennard's behaviour was inappropriate.

The former chief executive has powerful supporters in the House of Lords. As chief executive under three successive party leaders, he was critical to the party's growth.

Equally, there is anger in the party that it has, over many years, failed to act on the allegations of sexual misconduct.

Rennard argued that the police refused to bring charges against him and an internal party inquiry conducted by Alistair Webster QC said the charges could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

It did find the evidence set out by the women broadly credible and, as a result, he recommended that the peer should apologise and change his behaviour, something Rennard's supporters claim he had no power to ask.

His lawyers have previously expressed a concern that if he apologised, this would be seen as admission of guilt and would make him liable to civil legal action. Any settlement would probably require an agreement that no further civil action would be taken by the women.

The party president, Tim Farron, and Clegg have both said Rennard should apologise.

One of the four complainants, Alison Smith, has left the party, but has said the peer needed to understand his actions were an abuse of power and "why it matters that he [Rennard] had control over women's careers when he was making advances on people". She added: "What is at stake here for me is the principle of what is acceptable behaviour in the workplace."

At the height of the crisis, in February, Rennard said: "If ever I have hurt, embarrassed or upset anyone, then it would never have been my intention and, of course, I regret that they may have felt any hurt, embarrassment or upset.

"But for the reasons given, I will not offer an apology to the four women complainants. I do not believe that people should be forced to say what they know they should not say, or do not mean."