Nick Clegg has insisted he has “absolutely nothing to hide” over the sexual harassment claims made against a senior Liberal Democrat.
The Deputy Prime Minster has admitted he was aware of allegations against Lord Rennard in 2008. Lord Rennard, the party’s former chief executive, has strenuously denied the allegations.
But there is growing criticism that the party failed to properly investigate the complaints when they were first made, and senior party figures said over the weekend that Clegg had been unaware of them.
Speaking on BBC Radio Solent on Monday morning, the Lib Dem leader said the priority was to “listen to the women.”
He added: “I have got absolutely nothing to hide. Why would I? I know some of these women very well – one of them worked for me. I spoke to her last night…she never said any of this to me.”
Clegg repeated that “no specific allegations” had been made before a broadcast by Channel 4 News, which interviewed some of the women involved. Previously those involved had not wanted to reveal their names, he said.
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He added: “Now they have developed into specific allegations, we can act and we will.”
Party president Tim Farron acknowledged that the party had “screwed this up” and failed in its duty of care.
He said a “completely full and open inquiry into how we got this wrong” was under way and insisted that he had heard only a “general rumour” before the complaints were broadcast.
“The one thing I probably can tell you without going through due process is that we screwed this up as a party,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“There are individuals out there who we had a duty of care towards and we did not fulfil that duty of care. That is something that we have to learn from, apologise for and make sure it never happens again.”
Asked when he first heard of allegations against Lord Rennard, he said: “A general rumour I heard a year or so ago but no specifics, not even who or what or when or anything.
“In my job you come across quite a lot of gossip and it is difficult to know how you separate out general unspecific gossip from specific complaints.
“That is why we, as a party, with independent help and with real rigour, are now going to look at ourselves.
“My job as party president is not to defend the Liberal Democrats in this, in fact quite the opposite: it is to find out what happened and ensure these women get justice because I’m afraid they are the people who have been lost in… all the political furore.”
Asked if he believed Conservatives were trying to whip up the controversy, he said: “They have to answer for that. All I can do is make sure I deal with the real job at hand.”
