After pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice, Chris Huhne made this statement outside the court:
Having taken responsibility for something that happened 10 years ago, the only proper course of action is for me to resign my Eastleigh seat in parliament.
Contrast that with the letters he sent to David Cameron and Nick Clegg at the time. To Clegg, his party leader and rival, he wrote:
I am writing to resign, with great regret, as Energy and Climate Change Secretary. I will defend myself robustly in the courts against the charges that the Crown Prosecution Service has decided to press. I have concluded that it would be distracting both to my trial defence and to my official duties if I were to continue in office as a minister….
This is what Clegg sent in return:
I fully understand your decision to stand down from government in order to clear your name but I hope you will be able to do so rapidly so that you can return to play a key role in government as soon as possible.
And to the prime minister, the energy secretary wrote:
This letter is to submit with much regret my resignation as Energy and Climate Change Secretary. I intend to mount a robust defence against the charges brought against me, and I have concluded that it would be distracting both to that effort and to my official duties if I were to continue in office.
Cameron replied:
Like the Deputy Prime Minister, I am sorry to see you leave the Government under these circumstances and wish you well for the future.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey