Tuesday 8th April

We haven’t seen many at all this Parliament.  David Laws, the ludicrous Dr. Fox and his “travelling” companion and Andrew Mitchell, who was probably a victim of circumstances rather than a deserved retiree.  Last week we had the “apology” from the Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, which was short and the very minimum required and as such felt by all and sundry to be totally inadequate.  And of course the Prime Minister stood by her.  This has now become the signal (the firing of the starter pistol if you like) for the Press to try to get her to resign.  There are many aspects of the Press that are disgraceful; their private ownership and right-wing bias, their illegality, their invasion of the privacy of ordinary people and their worship of the cult of celebrity, but they do also play an important role, that of holding Politicians to account.

There has been a weekend of it; even the Mail and Telegraph have come out against her.  And whatever the legal niceties of her “defence”, there is little doubt that she pushed the boundaries; not only of how much she could claim but also of her credibility.  And after all the furore a few years ago about MPs expenses it is still crazy that a recommendation from the independent Commissioner can be watered down so blatantly by a committee of MPs themselves.  Augean stables or what?

I imagine that either by the time you are reading this or very soon after she will resign.  The Tories “bounce” from the Busget is already fading and Cameron, if he has any sense, will not want this to drag on and on.    Whether she jumps or is pushed, she is standing on the very edge of the precipice and is very unlikely to find a safe way back.