They found the line

 MPs used to resign at the faint aroma of impropriety. Newspapers would send scantily clad women (or paperboys, in the case of my childhood MP) to the doorsteps of MPs they didn’t like in the hope of shaming them into a resignation. MPs felt they had to live their lives to the highest of moral standards. If they made a stupid mistake, they quit, Even David Cameron resigned after his ‘let’s ask the public what they think of all the benefits we get from the EU’ went spectacularly wrong.

These days, resignations only seem to happen as a matter of protest. When an MP disagrees with something, they resign, therefore securing themselves a seat at the top table when the next regime comes in that agreed with them. 

However, moral standards, seem to be a thing of the past. 

Recently, I have been wondering what they would have to do. Our current Prime Minister has almost certainly lied to parliament about the lockdown parties, that he claimed to know nothing about but was at. The last MP who lied to parliament was John Profumo and we all know what happened to him. Actually, you are more likely to know how the girl he lied about sleeping with’s life was destroyed than the fact that he was forced to stop being an MP but was perfectly fine. His wife stood by him, they lived off their inherited wealth and did voluntary work at Tonybee Hall until he was awarded a CBE and attending the Queen’s birthday dinners. It’s a tough life.

However, no one cares if you sleep with a 19 year old now there’s no need to lie. Even our local MP didn’t bother denying paying for sessions with Miss Whiplash because there was no need. It does make you wonder where the line is.

This weekend, though, they found the line. Several of them, in fact. Despite the witty remarks on Twitter the man hadn’t been collecting his dandruff but had, according to Sarah Vine, suffered a midlife crisis. Not quite the same a a female mid-life crisis, which involves dying hair an odd colour, doing a PhD and refusing to do the washing up. His crime wasn’t the sexual abuse of members of his staff or even taking the cocaine but having a photo with the lines.