Clegg issues clarification over 'fleeting' Saatchi remark

The Deputy Prime Minister has been forced to issue a clarification after he appeared to suggest that Charles Saatchi's assault on Nigella Lawson might have been "a fleeting thing."

Nick Clegg's full statement said: “I completely condemn all forms of domestic violence.

"As I said on the radio, my instinct would always be to try and protect the weaker person to try and protect the person who otherwise would be hurt.

"But I was asked a very specific question about how I would have reacted to a specific incident which I did not see.

"I said I did not know how I would have reacted to that specific incident because I do not know what happened."

"The point I was making is that I don’t know what other people in the restaurant saw and I don’t want to make a judgement on their reaction."