Lord Strasburger has temporarily stood down from the Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords pending investigation into allegations to be made in a Channel 4 Dispatches programme which have been reported in the Telegraph. This involved another undercover operation involving a reporter posing as a businessman. Lord Strasburger has denied doing anything wrong.
From the BBC:
In a statement published by the Liberal Democrats, Lord Strasburger said: “Whatever Channel 4 may say in their Dispatches programme, I do not think I have committed any offence.
“Having said that, I believe that we should all be accountable for what we do, so I have invited the Electoral Commission to carry out an investigation into my actions.
“In the meantime, whilst I maintain that I have committed no offence, I have stopped fund-raising for the party.
“Also, for the sake of the party, I have resigned the whip from the Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords until the investigation is completed.”
In a response to a suggestion in the Daily Telegraph that this apparent donor, working for Dispatches, had met the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, a spokesman for the party said: “It is common practice for senior party figures from all parties to meet with potential and current donors.”
The statement adds: “Dispatches has raised important questions about one particular donation, which the party is taking seriously.
“The party had no reason to believe that the donation was made by anyone other than the person who signed the cheque.”
The Telegraph says that it’s not just Liberal Democrats who are being investigated:
There are expected to be more revelations in the coming days that will draw Labour and the Conservatives into the funding row.
The paper is very keen to drag senior party figures into these stories. This time it’s Nick Clegg, who apparently met the undercover reporter concerned. While we don’t know the circumstances, Nick Clegg is pretty accessible.Last week at Spring Conference, he was chatting with everybody he came into contact with. One thrilled first time attendee had met him three times by the end of the first day. Anyone who has ever met him and seen him in action will tell you that he treats everybody with the same courtesy and humour.
As this matter is under investigation, comments on this post will be pre-moderated.
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One Comment
One day we will live by our basic belief that people are innocent until proven guilty. The relatively new custom that anyone accused by anyone of anything “stands down” while it is being resolved is dangerous nonsense and wrong.
It’s dangerous since it leaves any unscrupulous opponents able potentially to remove anyone they don’t like.
Nonsense if the accusation is as flimsy as this one seems to be – judged on the evidence provided by the accusers.
Wrong because it contravenes the “innocent until proven” rule which underpins a liberal system of justice.
Tony