Former leader David Steel’s membership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has been reinstated following an investigation by the Scottish Party Executive.
Willie Rennie issued a statement today outlining the conclusion, according to the BBC:
The party’s executive group has now determined that there are “no grounds for action” against the former MSP and Holyrood presiding officer.
Mr Rennie said: “We take the issue of vigilance and safeguarding incredibly seriously, so it was important to investigate following the evidence that David Steel gave to the independent public inquiry. In part because of a hearing difficulty and a lack of precision in providing some answers it was necessary to seek further information from him for clarification.
The clarifications that David Steel has provided to us state clearly that Cyril Smith did not confess to any criminality which is why he took no further action at the time.”