Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Presented by Hugh Muir and produced by Phil Maynard

Politics Weekly podcast: Lord Rennard, the Lib Dems and 'post-liberalism'

An internal party inquiry into the behaviour of Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard found that he caused distress to at least 10 women and ought to apologise. But it concluded, as did the police investigation into the same matter, that there was insufficient evidence to bring disciplinary charges. Rennard says he hasn't done anything to say sorry for. But he has since been suspended from his party, during an acrimonious week of claim and counter-claim inside the junior coalition party. It's left Nick Clegg struggling to stay ahead of the story and taking political flak from all sides.

Joining Hugh Muir to discuss it are David Goodhart, director of the thinktank Demos, and Guardian columnists Polly Toynbee and Martin Kettle.

Also this week: a dip in unemployment was welcomed by the government but has left the Bank of England scrabbling for answers over its intentions to raise interest rates. The positive economic news also presents a challenge to Labour whose front bench has attempted to shift the debate onto stagnating living standards.

Plus: is liberalism dead? If so, long live 'post-liberalism' says David Goodhart. His recent essay A Postliberal Future? argues that the economic and social liberalisms inherited from the 1960s have had unintended consequences that politicians need to address.

Leave your thoughts below.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.