If Chris Huhne was ever seriously seen as a future challenger to Nick Clegg that possibility must be receding, and possibly for good, as the police today consider whether to launch an investigation into taped allegations leaked to Sunday newspapers that the Energy Secretary asked someone to take driving penalty points for him.
Last weekend it was his wife Vicky Pryce saying her husband “pressurised people” to take on his penalty points to avoid a driving ban. Nice. But last night the Sunday Times claimed it had details of a taped phone call in which Huhne asked a witness to stay silent about the story. On the tape Huhne said: “If I were you … do not talk. I would have thought you would not want to talk.” Huhne, who left his wife last year, has denied the claims.
There was more detail in the Mail on Sunday. It says in the phone call to the unnamed person Huhne warns them not to let ‘the genie’ out of the bottle: “There is no evidence for this story unless you give it some legs by saying something. The last thing you want is a half-baked story saying you’ve taken points for me.”
The individual talking to Huhne then shows their unhappiness about being pressured to take the driving points in the Lib Dem minister’s place: “It’s one of the things that worried me when you made me take the points.”
Huhne replies: “The story they are trying to stand up is that ‘Cabinet Minister persuaded XXX to take points’. The only way they can stand that up is by getting you to talk to them. There is simply no other person who could possibly tell them whether it is true or not.”
And that’s what Huhne doesn’t do in the 13-minute conversation. He does not suggest the allegation is untrue. With such a damning story Huhne’s cabinet career must surely be over? Whatever Clegg’s feelings towards Huhne, if he is forced to step down from the cabinet, it will leave the Lib Dem leader with a headache. Who does he replace Huhne with?
The highly ambitious Huhne will find himself back on the backbenches with another fallen Lib Dem minister David Laws. Talking of whom, despite cheating on expenses and getting away with a slap on the wrist (unlike former Labour MP Eric Illsley who was jailed in February) Laws could still make a return. Talk about your double standards. There does appear one rule for some and a different for others.