If I think far enough back, I can remember the Profumo Affair in 1963. I was at secondary school, yet the scandal seemed to enthral, shock and appal the majority of people; even 14 year olds.
In a nutshell, John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, had an illicit relationship with Christine Keeler, the alleged mistress of a Russian spy. He then lied in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it. However, caught out, he resigned and devoted the remainder of his life to charitable works. He died in 2006, and it could be argued that with his death, so also died any vestige of honour within Government.
How different then the rich vein of lies, dishonour and deceit currently being mined by many of our Members of Parliament embroiled in the expenses scandle. None more so than former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith who, via fraudulent second home claims, has robbed the tax-payer, i.e. you and I, of more than £100,000. Has she resigned from the House? Nope. Has she offered to pay the money back? Nope; at least not at the time of writing. So what has she done? She has reluctantly said sorry, but only after having to be forced to do so, and not from any sense of having done wrong, but from having to be ordered to do so. She, of course, is not alone in this, as every day seems to expose new stones ready to be turned over to reveal the decay of British Politics lurking underneath.
In 1963, John Profumo did something wrong but had the grace and the honour to recognise this and resign from politics for ever. Many members of the House of Commons would do well to emulate his example.
No comments:
Post a Comment