Forced to do the right thing by Keir Starmer and a ferocious public backlash, voters will wonder if Boris Johnson is serious about clearing up Tory sleaze.
The timing of his announcement that the Conservatives also want to ban MPs working as paid consultants suggests he wanted to upstage the Labour leader’s statement.
It seems to be just another tactical game for a Prime Minister up to his neck in controversy.
Johnson is responding in this direction only because his attempt to save guilty Tory Owen Paterson, and change the rules to protect other Conservative MPs, went down badly with the electorate.
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Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The big Westminster majority of a party in office for 11 years after four election wins seems to frequently embolden a PM without principles or a moral compass.
Caught out
The tearful testimony of Azeem Rafiq and admission by Yorkshire’s former chair, Roger Hutton, that the club and sport are institutionally racist, destroys the myth that cricket is a gentlemanly game.
Humiliating abuse listed in Parliament by an emotional Rafiq about his inhuman treatment shames everyone involved from those directly responsible to people looking the other way, dismissing evidence, protecting the guilty and blocking justice for victims.
Listening to Rafiq recount how as a Muslim who doesn’t drink alcohol he had red wine forcibly poured down his throat, and felt abandoned when his son died while others were supported, was a watershed moment.
Nobody in authority can claim ignorance about what went on or expect to stay in post if they fail to end appalling discrimination.
Taking lead
The “dog and bone” video phone gadget to enable a pooch to keep its owner in the picture could allow both to have a ball.
It should be particularly good for dog lovers with a golden receiver.
