As Guido revealed in his Sun column yesterday, one fellow yellow peer has jumped to the defence of randy Rennard. Weirdy-beardy Lord Greaves has been fighting his corner on an internal party message board, suggesting the sex pest allegations were merely “mild sexual advances”.

“Are the allegations true? We will have to wait and see. Meanwhile I suggest people just calm down a bit. Is the alleged behaviour criminal? We don’t know the details of anything that may have happened. But it is hardly an offence for one adult person to make fairly mild sexual advances to another. What matters if whether they are pursued if they are rebuffed…In passing I would note and guess that if the allegations as made are a matter for resignation, perhaps around a half of the male members of the Lords over the age of 50 would probably not be seen again”

Then on a thread titled “Just a devious Beeb/Labour  plot to steal Eastleigh thunder”, Lord Greaves continues:

“Interesting to consider what is “sexual harassment”. Does one proposition constitute sexual harassment? If that is not normally the case (which seems common sense) might it do so in the particular context of the relationship between two people? And once there has been a refusal by the other person, how many more propositions constitute sexual harassment? We only know the identity of two of the complainants, as I understand it. In at least one case, if the event that is alleged too place, I’m surprised the response was not a slap in the face. But why the complaints have been made now is a mystery.”

Guido wonders what the party’s paltry female contingent would make of Greaves’ hands on attitude to dealing with the Rennard crisis. With friends like that…