Rennard considers legal action over suspension

A spokesman for Lord Rennard, the party’s former chief executive, said he had instructed a QC specialising in public law to advise him on the “lawfulness or otherwise” of the decision to launch a second inquiry into his conduct.

It follows the announcement yesterday that he was being suspended from the party pending the investigation into claims that he brought the Lib Dems into disrepute by his refusal to apologise to four women activists who alleged he sexually harassed them.

He was ordered to issue the apology by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg after an earlier inquiry by Alistair Webster QC concluded that the women’s claims were credible but there was insufficient evidence to bring disciplinary charges.

Supporters of the peer dismissed the latest inquiry as no more than a “re-run” of the first.

“A senior QC specialising in public law matters has been instructed and is advising Lord Rennard as to the lawfulness or otherwise of the decision to hold a second inquiry,” the spokesman said.

The latest move will fuel speculation that Lord Rennard – who has always denied the allegations against him – could now seek an injunction blocking the inquiry.

With one of the women whom he is alleged to have harassed refusing to rule out a counter claim against the peer, the Lib Dems are faced with the prospect of becoming embroiled in a series of damaging court battles which could drag on for months.

Friends of Lord Rennard insisted that he did not want the case to end up in the courts but claimed that attempts to resolve the issue through mediation had been blocked by Lib Dem president Tim Farron.

Earlier former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown appealed to Lord Rennard to end the turmoil gripping the party and issue an apology. Lord Ashdown, who described himself as a “friend and admirer” of the peer, said it would “cost him nothing” to say sorry for any offence he had caused.

The peer has refused, in part because of warnings that to do so could leave him “defenceless” in the event of a civil action against him, but Lord Ashdown, insisted that he do so without compromising his legal position.

“It is very easy to do. No one is suggesting that Chris (Lord Rennard) should put his own innocence, as he claims it, in jeopardy,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One. “If it is the case – this is what Webster QC asserted – that offence has been given, it costs him nothing to say ‘If inadvertently I have caused you hurt, I apologise for that’. It’s done every day. It is the very heart of mediation.”

The row over Lord Rennard’s treatment has opened up party divisions. Supporters claim he has been subjected to a kangaroo court while critics argue that swifter action should have been taken against him.