Leighton Andrews, commenting on the sad demise of Carl Sargeant, said the other day that the charges of improper behaviour should have been dealt with "behind closed doors". However, it was just that initial treatment of complaints about Chris Rennard that landed the Liberal Democrat administration in hot water and caused a complete overhaul of the party's complaints procedure. It seems that the Labour protocol prevents the accused knowing of the precise nature of the charges against him until some legal niceties have been observed, but does allow summary dismissal and suspension from the party accompanied by a media blitz.
Personally, I believe in public judgments arrived at by an independent arbiter in camera, preserving the rights of all parties and preventing damaging (for either side) publicity. The main concern in the Rennard case was that action was taken against him but that was not made known nor the reasons for taking it until a later inquiry exposed it.
As to Lord Rennard himself, he no longer has any power to misuse and I trust that will remain so. I see no reason why as an ordinary member of the party he should be prevented from pounding the streets in support of his local candidate.
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