What is it about powerful men, sexual assault allegations, and the inability of ostensibly democratic parties to treat such accusations with due weight and carry through proper investigations? I suppose to pose the question that way is to answer it. The Liberal Democrats’ handling of the Lord Rennard enquiry has been a proper shambles, involving cock ups and conspiracies, accusations passed over for the “good of the party”, legalistic burdens of proof, refusals to apologise, bizarre defences of conduct and, latterly, blood-curdling threats. Far be it for me to point you at Dan Hodges two days running, but his piece is the best summation I’ve seen.

You can almost understand why the higher ups covered for this – ironically – untouchable LibDem. He is/was a “genius”. It was Rennard who came up with the LibDems’ turn to so-called pavement politics in the 90s, of appearing to be all things to all people. I also think it was Rennard who came up with the stirring slogans “it’s a two horse race!”, “winning here!”, and the sublime beauty of the LibDem bar chart. Give him his due, Rennard’s strategic nous was very useful for the LibDems. One should not overplay him as a factor in the party’s successes between 1989 and 2009. After all, by that point the respective declines of Toryism and Labourism had sent in. But Rennard took the advantages the circumstances afforded and ran with them. If anyone can take the credit for building the yellow party into the third political force, it’s him. Continue reading →