I welcome the apology made by Mike Hancock to this very vulnerable constituent. These allegations are extremely serious given Mr Hancock’s position of responsibility as a Member of Parliament dealing with many sensitive issues from people asking for help.
It is a matter of great regret that this matter has taken so long to bring to a conclusion, unnecessarily dragging out the process for this young woman and heightening the unpleasantness of this ordeal for her.
Mr Hancock admits his behaviour throughout has been "unprofessional" and in view of that, it is clear he can no longer represent the people of Portsmouth. I call on Mike Hancock to resign immediately, to trigger a by-election, and to give the people of Portsmouth an opportunity to move on from this disgraceful period in its history.
In her statement, “Annie” refers to the personal attacks on her by Portsmouth Lib Dems, led by Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson. It is time for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrat leadership to come clean about the culture of denial, bullying and abuse which runs throughout the Lib Dem party in Portsmouth, and to respond properly to these concerns, as well as those raised by Cllr Eleanor Scott.