Paul Flowers: End Of Story

From today's Private Eye.
And kudos to the Eye for not doing a Paul Flowers cover - a Herculean feat.
Though see pages 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 17, 21, 22, 26, 33 and 34.

The Flowers Affair Is Blooming Hypocrisy

I return from Australia and Borneo to a barbarous Britain. Good heavens, what’s all this hoo-ha about the Rev Paul Flowers? Lurid allegations fly. Claims about hard drugs, rent boys, pornography and (unspeakably worse) false expenses claims. The Tory press is in full cry, Cameron and Osborne an Etna and Vesuvius of moral horror. “Aha! Shame! What did Balls know? What was Miliband told?”

Nothing, obviously. Balls and Miliband plainly had no idea. Maybe they should have, but they didn’t. Such things can happen, and do, to any busy boss. Does anyone seriously think . . . hmm, rephrase that: “Could anyone, on sober reflection, seriously think” that a senior British politician, on being told that a chap was under suspicion on all these alleged counts, would have replied “Porno schmorno — who cares? Let’s just overlook it; and appoint him as an adviser, and have him in for tea, and schmooze him, and make him our link with the Co-operative Bank?”

Nonsense. Lots of thoroughly unsuitable people get appointed by mistake. I was once offered a job in British Intelligence, for pity’s sake. When my party’s pack are in full cry about some alleged disgrace in a rival party, I make a habit of pausing, transposing the name tags, and asking myself how indignant I’d be if it were (say) Labour in full cry against George Osborne because he’d courted and been advised by some wealthy potential donor who’d turned out to be a bounder.

I know what I’d say. “Oops. Should have checked. These things happen.” End of story.

Times' columnist Matthew Parris. 

Always like it when Parris comes across as a voice of calm and reason - but then he goes and spoils it all by saying something stupid like he loves Thatch... 

PS Paul Flowers Drug Scandal - two men arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs to former Co-op Bank boss - West Yorkshire police confirmed two suspects, aged 26 and 34, were detained at addresses in the Thornton area of Bradford and the Armley area of Leeds. 
Daily Mirror.

Their ages may or may not be of significance...