Disgraced Huhne is still a friend, says Clegg

The Deputy Prime Minister revealed that he last spoke to the former Energy Secretary, who stepped down as a Lib Dem MP after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice, during the by-election campaign for his old seat of Eastleigh in Hampshire.

Huhne was sentenced to eight months in prison, alongside ex-wife Vicky Pryce, on Monday.

Speaking during his weekly radio appearance yesterday, Mr Clegg said: “I’m not going to airbrush out that Chris is someone I’ve known for many years, who is a friend, who is a close colleague, and I feel incredibly sad for his whole family.

“I don’t think Chris would expect me to visit him in prison but I will see Chris once he... You can be clear someone’s done something wrong and has to pay the consequences, but equally acknowledge that you can still keep in touch with them as a human being, as a friend,” he added.