Sue me over honours claims - Huhne - News in brief

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Mr Huhne, who is fighting for the party leadership, said the chances it was coincidence that all £1 million-plus donors were awarded gongs were about the same as getting hit by an asteroid.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced in July that it would bring no charges after a 16-month police investigation into claims of corruption.

Several people were arrested and Tony Blair was interviewed by detectives as a witness, the first time a serving Prime Minister had faced such a grilling.

But Mr Huhne told The Independent on Sunday it was "completely mad" to suggest there was no organised system of awarding big donors in operation.

"It's quite clear what was going on: this was basically a supermarket in honours," he told The Independent on Sunday.

"It is completely mad to suggest other than (that) this was an organised matter. I am very happy to say that on the record. If they (the Government) think otherwise they can very happily take me to a libel court."

Mr Huhne told ITV's Sunday Edition he understood why it had been difficult to find evidence to meet the "beyond reasonable doubt" test for a criminal case.

"But the chances of every single person who gave a million pounds coming away with a knighthood or a peerage, of that being a random coincidence, are about as great as the chances of us getting hit now by an asteroid.

"If ministers want to sue me I would be delighted to defend it."