Huhne - The Lib Dem Blogosphere Speaks

What were Lib Dems saying about Hedge End's MP yesterday?

It started with party communications guru Olly Grender apologising for her previous defence of Hedge End's disgraced Lib Dem former MP.

But Scottish activist Caron Lindsay defended her colleagues who had been duped by Huhne's lies.

Nobody who defended Huhne should feel that they have anything to apologise for. They did what was fair and right at the time, in good faith. 



Mark Thompson was more resigned in tone, but made the telling comparison with past Conservative sleaze stories:


There's not much more to say. His career is now over. He will likely go to prison for a time and I cannot argue that should not be the case. He deserves it. I thought that with Jeffrey Archer, I thought it with Jonathan Aitken and I think it with Chris Huhne. The mere fact I am typing his name in the same sentence as those two notorious names of yesteryear is galling, but he is now in the same category as them. Today's resignation in disgrace is what he will be remembered for. Anything else he achieved will be a footnote.

Paul Walter had some words of homespun wisdom:

Honesty is the best policy

The corollary to that being:

Beware your lies will find you out

Also, my grandmother’s admonition springs to mind:

You’re so sharp, you’ll cut yourself one day.

I have also been reminded of the startling paralells between the cases of Chris Huhne and Jonathan Aitken (although without the “simple sword of truth” in the former case).
I recall (as someone who, about ten years ago, was on nine points on my licence) some advice from a good friend:

If you don’t want to lose your licence then don’t break the speed limit.

-Startingly simple advice, but wise all the same. I took it.
But we can all be smug and wise after the event.

Neil Monnery was more judgemental:

Well what can you say? You sleep in because you were up until gone 4AM watching Super Bowl XLVII and you wake up to Chris Huhne changing his plea to guilty and all hell breaking loose. Obviously due to the ongoing trial I can’t type too much about the case only that Chris Huhne is clearly a moron and thought that he could lie and bully his way out of a problem. 

But first prize for wit and putting it all into the context of the day's news goes to Richard Flowers:

Today, former Energy and Climate Change Secretary and Duke of York, Mr Huhney-Monster, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice when he got his former wife to accept points for speeding through Bosworth Field. 

Maligned by Shakespeare as a twisted schemer, the Duke – famous for his war cry of "more horsepower more horsepower my kingdom for more horsepower" – also asked for two counts of Princes in the Tower to be taken into account.

His rival in the Wars of the Rosettes Mr Tudor Clegg was unavailable for comment due to an uncontrollable fit of hysterical giggling. 

Senior Liberal Democrats – and St Simon of Hughes, the new archbishop of Canterbury – expect to have the Duke taken out and buried in a car park somewhere.