LONDON - British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Sunday
denied covering up allegations of sexual misconduct by a former senior member of
his Liberal Democrat party, already floundering in opinion
polls.
Allegations of sexual impropriety by former party chief executive
Chris Rennard threaten to engulf Clegg and further undermine the Lib Dems, the
junior member of Britain's coalition government.
The latest furore comes
at a bad time for the party, after the resignation of cabinet minister Chris
Huhne this month who admitted he had asked his then wife to accept a penalty for
a 2003 speeding offence he had committed.
A local election to replace
Huhne is to be held on Feb. 28.