Clegg: I never saw a letter from sex pest MP’s victim
NICK Clegg was yesterday forced to defend himself after he admitted a vulnerable woman wrote to him to complain about inappropriate advances by MP Mike Hancock more than three years ago.
The Liberal Democrat leader acknowledged his office received a letter from the woman in March 2011 begging for help, but denied that he had ‘turned a blind eye’ to the problem, claiming that it was never brought to his attention.
As part of a court settlement on Wednesday, Mr Hancock, 68, admitted he had ‘crossed the line’ and had an ‘inappropriate and unprofessional’ relationship with the woman after she sought his help as her local MP.
Mr Clegg yesterday called on Mr Hancock, who has already had the Lib Dem whip withdrawn in Parliament and his party membership suspended, to leave the party altogether.
‘He should resign from the party. Of course he should. Absolutely,’ Mr Clegg told LBC radio. ‘He has made an apology that makes it clear that the way he behaved was totally and utterly out of order. He has caused huge, huge distress. Frankly, that has no role in the Liberal Democrats – the party I lead.’
The woman, known as ‘Annie’, first wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister on March 9, 2011 to complain about Mr Hancock. In a letter sent by recorded delivery to the Liberal Democrat headquarters, she wrote: ‘I am deeply upset that as the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats you have done nothing to oust this man from politics.
‘He cannot be trusted and he is a liability to women, the public and also your party. His conduct should be a matter for you as leader of the party. Please reply to this as it is very important to me that I get an answer from you.’
Mr Clegg yesterday said the party had taken no action at that time as Hampshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service, which had both looked into the matter, had decided there was no basis on which to proceed.
He claimed: ‘She is quite right to say back in 2011 something was sent to my office. It didn’t reach me. When I was given specific allegations early in 2013, I responded as promptly as I reasonably could and Mike Hancock was suspended as an MP for the party.’ Yesterday it emerged that the Portsmouth South MP has taken £275,077 in salary from the public purse and a further £72,004 in expenses since the woman complained to Mr Clegg.
Politicians in Portsmouth have called on Mr Hancock to quit and trigger a by-election. Labour Councillor John Ferrett said: ‘His position is completely untenable. There is no way people in Portsmouth can trust him as their MP.’
However Mr Hancock will not face an investigation by the parliamentary sleaze watchdog. This means that he could cling on until next year’s election – putting pressure on the Government to introduce reforms allowing constituents to recall rogue MPs. Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith said: ‘This clearly shows we need recall. It’s absurd that unless he chooses to step down, his constituents are stuck with him.’
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