An independent Liberal Democrat panel has decided that sexual harassment allegations against the peer Chris Rennard will not be investigated again, The Guardian reports. The party had asked three adjudicators to look again at the claims made by four women after advice that a 2013 investigation had been flawed, but the panel concluded after legal advice that the case could not be reopened without new evidence.
Party leader Ed Davey, who suspended Lord Rennard when the matter was reopened this year, said he was disappointed and upset, adding that the women had been let down again. Lord Rennard, a former party chief executive who has previously apologised if he inadvertently encroached on anyone's personal space, said the complaint should now be published in full and that the reopened inquiry should never have happened. Previous police and legal inquiries concluded the allegations could not be proved.
Source: The Guardian