Lib Dems suspend Chris Rennard amid new inquiry into sexual harassment claims
The Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard has been suspended from the party amid a new investigation into sexual harassment allegations,The party said it had received advice that a 2013 inquiry into the claims made by four women against Lord Rennard was “flawed in several respects”,The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, believes Rennard, 65, should not be a member of the House of Lords, the party added,In turn, Rennard, a former chief executive of the party who was awarded a life peerage in 1999, pointed to a series of investigations by police and lawyers that had concluded the allegations against him could not be proved,He previously said he was sorry if he had “inadvertently encroached” upon anyone’s “personal space”.
Three of the women involved in the original claim welcomed the move as “the first signs of change” by the party.The former deputy party chair Alison Goldsworthy, the academic Alison Smith, and Bridget Harris, a former adviser to Nick Clegg, issued a joint statement after the latest developments.They said: “We decided to speak out in 2013 so that future generations of women could participate in politics safely.“We did not expect a fair investigation to take so long and hope that the next steps will finally put the matter to rest.”The fourth complainant, the former councillor Susan Gaszczak, resigned from the party in 2014 after the original investigation.
She said at the time she “could no longer remain a member of a party that feels it acceptable for the then chief executive to invite me to his hotel room to advance my political career”,A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “Rennard has had the Liberal Democrat whip in the House of Lords and his party membership suspended, and the party is conducting a new investigation into these allegations,“The party has now received legal advice that the 2013 investigation into allegations against Rennard was flawed in several respects,“Ed Davey has made clear he believes Rennard should not be a member of the House of Lords and that it should be made easier for peers to be expelled from the Lords for serious misconduct,”A review carried out by the senior lawyer Alistair Webster KC in 2013 concluded that there was a less than 50% chance of the case against Rennard being proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
But in a statement summarising his findings, he said there was “broadly credible” evidence of “behaviour which violated the personal space and autonomy of the complainants”.Responding to the latest suspension, Rennard said: “All allegations made against me were investigated by the Metropolitan police service in 2013 in what was acknowledged by one of the complainants to be a ‘thorough and professional investigation’.“After interviewing all concerned and considering any evidence they decided not to send a file to the Crown Prosecution Service and took no further action.“A thorough investigation of all allegations was then undertaken by an independent lawyer, Alistair Webster KC, following very extensive appeals for any complaints concerning me and any evidence.“His report submitted to the party in December 2013 concluded that there was insufficient evidence to hold a disciplinary hearing.
“The report he submitted did not include the word ‘credible’,His report was accepted by the relevant party body in January 2014,“A further investigation was conducted by another independent lawyer as to whether there were any grounds at all for any form of disciplinary action against me and it concluded that there were not,“This conclusion was accepted by the party in August 2014 when all disciplinary action against me ended,”
Stephen Colbert: ‘Trump would eat a bicycle tire if you put it on a bun’
On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert responded to White House adviser Paula White-Cain’s claims that Donald Trump is “the GOAT”, while Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers addressed ICE and Jeffrey Epstein.Over on the Late Show, Colbert turned his attention to Trump’s appearance at the national prayer breakfast and his speech at the Washington Hilton hotel. Or as Colbert called the president’s 77-minute address, “special material just for the prayer munchers”.Ahead of his remarks, Trump was introduced by White-Cain, the White House senior adviser who Colbert called a “haunted Bloomingdale’s mannequin”. White-Cain introduced the president as “the GOAT: the greatest of all time”
Aacta awards 2026: horror film Bring Her Back and Jacob Elordi win big at Australian film and TV prizes
Bring Her Back has dominated at the 2026 Aacta (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) awards, winning 10 of 16 nominations, while Jacob Elordi has continued his recent awards buzz by taking home best lead actor for his performance in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou’s horror-thriller about a sinister foster mother, emerged as the most awarded film of the night with 10 wins. This marks a major milestone for the Adelaide brothers, surpassing the eight awards they won for their 2024 global breakout, Talk to Me.Bring Her Back won best direction, best film, best leading actress in a film for Sally Hawkins and almost every technical category, including cinematography, editing, original score, sound, costume design, hair and makeup, and casting.Fresh from his Critics’ Choice Movie awards win for his portrayal of the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Elordi won best lead actor in a drama for his portrayal of army surgeon Dorrigo Evans in the screen adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North
‘One of the most stunning sights in the country’: your picks for UK town of culture
From pirates and skateboarders in Hastings to legends and locks in Devizes, from dolphins in Scarborough to the ‘artists’ town’ of Kirkcudbright, readers put forward their favourite placesCulture secretary Lisa Nandy has launched a search for the UK’s first “town of culture”, similar to the city of culture programme, which honoured Bradford last year. After the Guardian’s writers nominated theirs – including Ramsgate in Kent, Falmouth in Cornwall, Abergavenny in Monmouthshire and Portobello in Edinburgh – we asked readers which UK towns they would put forward.Culture in Hastings grows out of the shingle and the wind and the friction between past and present. You can feel it in the fishing fleet hauled up on the beach, still part of daily life, and then a short walk away in bold contemporary spaces showing work that speaks far beyond the town. It shows up in events that belong to the people who live there; Jack in the Green spilling through the streets; Pirate Day turning the whole place into a shared act of play; music competitions that quietly bring international talent into a town that never pretends to be grand
‘It’s an opportunity for bonding’ – my quest to become a Black dad who can do his daughters’ hair
For me – and many other Black men – my experience of hair begins and ends in the barbershop. But as my two daughters get older, I’m determined to make ‘salon night’ pain free – and maybe even enjoyable The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.In the basement of Larry King’s salon in Marylebone, London, stylist and curly hair advocate Jennie Roberts is giving me a much-needed pep talk
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump: ‘We are now at the women-should-smile-more stage of his presidency’
Late-night hosts dug into Donald Trump’s deflections from the Jeffrey Epstein files and the backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show.Jimmy Kimmel kept the focus on the Epstein files on Tuesday, because it’s “a story that Donald Trump wishes would go away. But it won’t just go away. It’s the kind of story that makes headlines, and he knows that. So what he does is he bombards us with a dozen other crazy things to try to flood the zone
The Guide #228: Against my better judgment, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has me back in Westeros
Just when I thought I was out … just when I thought I would no longer have that sweeping, ever so slightly irritating theme tune ringing around my head for hours on end, or feel the need to remember the difference between House Tyrell, Tully or Arryn, I suddenly find myself pulled back in to the Game of Thrones extended universe. The blame for this goes to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the likably low-key Game of Thrones spin-off series about a cloth-eared hedge knight and his shrewd child squire currently ambling through its first season on HBO/Sky Atlantic.Before its arrival, I had departed Westeros for good. My faith had first been shaken by that rushed, badly plotted final season of Game of Thrones proper, which bashed to bits six previous seasons’ worth of finely tuned political intrigue and fascinating character dynamics in a succession of endless (often badly lit) CGI-laden battles, before flambéing them in dragon fire. Worse came with House of the Dragon, a dreary, po-faced, endlessly withholding slog of a prequel series, the enjoyment of which seemed to rest entirely on whether the viewer was familiar with deep lore buried within a Westeros history book that George RR Martin wrote instead of cracking on with that sixth novel
What a four-year-old taught us about the magic of baking a chocolate cake
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for pork ragu with herbs (for gnocchi or pasta) | A kitchen in Rome
Rich plums and ripe tomatoes: Australia’s best-value fruit and veg for February
How to make moreish cookies from store-cupboard odds and ends – recipe | Waste not
Camilla Wynne’s recipes for blood orange marmalade and no-bake marmalade mousse tart
The dump dinner: spaghetti is now being served straight on to the table – but why?