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Nick Clegg says Mike Hancock will be thrown out by Lib Dems | Nick Clegg says Mike Hancock will be thrown out by Lib Dems |
(about 3 hours later) | |
The disgraced MP Mike Hancock is to be thrown out of the Liberal Democrats, the party leader Nick Clegg has said. | The disgraced MP Mike Hancock is to be thrown out of the Liberal Democrats, the party leader Nick Clegg has said. |
Mr Hancock, the MP for Portsmouth South, issued a public apology in court this week to a vulnerable female constituent for making inappropriate sexual advances. | Mr Hancock, the MP for Portsmouth South, issued a public apology in court this week to a vulnerable female constituent for making inappropriate sexual advances. |
He who has already had the whip withdrawn in Parliament and his Lib Dem membership suspended. | He who has already had the whip withdrawn in Parliament and his Lib Dem membership suspended. |
Asked by the BBC whether the MP would be expelled from the party altogether, Mr Clegg replied: “Absolutely.” | Asked by the BBC whether the MP would be expelled from the party altogether, Mr Clegg replied: “Absolutely.” |
He added: “I think it's very, very, very clear to me that he has no future as a member of the Liberal Democrats either, because he's apologised for causing immense distress to a vulnerable and innocent constituent of his.” | |
Speaking on LBC, Mr Clegg said Mr Hancock's behaviour as “totally and utterly out of order”. | |
Mr Clegg insisted he did not see letters the woman sent to his office in 2011, and said he was “frustrated” that they had “simply not reached him”. | |
He said: “I can only react to things that are put before me and when, in early 2013, specific allegations were brought to my attention, because the court proceedings were then under way, I acted very quickly, got it looked into and within a matter of weeks Mike Hancock was no longer an MP for the Liberal Democrats and, as you know, subsequently, was suspended.” |
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