On openDemocracy’s OurKingdom blog, Rupert Read asks why so many LibDems are going easy on Lord Rennard, who has been accused by multiple women of inappropriate sexual conduct and abuse of power. “They appear to be spending much more energy on Rennard (in some cases: on defending Rennard) than they ever did on the NHS” because he’s seen as “the architect of their rise to power over the past generation”.
On The Conversation, Elizabeth Evans writes that sexual harassment claims are not a new problem for the LibDems. She argues that “The party leadership must look to change internal procedure in order to set up a proper complaints process.”

(Credit: David Spender CC BY 2.0)
On the Institute for Government blog, Nadine Smith rounds up why, for aspiring women leaders in politics and government, this week was incredibly discouraging. Not only did Rennard clash with his party over harassment allegations, Nigel Farage told an audience that women who have babies deserve to be paid less as they are less valuable to their employers.
After David Cameron said that, contrary to what many are claiming, living standards are actually rising, Duncan Weldon examines the issue for the ToUChstone blog.
With the minimum wage being a much discussed topic, Pierre Brochu and David A Green look at the evidence regarding its impact on employment and labour-force turnover for VoxEU.