WHAT OF IT?
WHEN Disraeli was told that his almost octogenarian Liberal rival, Lord Palmer- ston was conducting an affair, he is said to have replied 'Don't tell the public, or he will sweep the country.'
Are we more prurient than our 19th- century predecessors? It might seem so, to judge from the resignations or sackings which have followed the revelations of sexual infidelity or excess which have now become an almost weekly event in the world of the tabloid newspapers. The sacking of Mr Michael 'Mike' Gatting as captain of the England cricket team is the most recent triumph of this pathetic cam- paign of sleazy disclosure. Easy to blame the newspapers, whose motives are no more or less moral than those they pillory.
But the really odious behaviour is that of the employer or colleague — in this case the England selectors — who see such flimsy and tainted evidence as reason for dismissal or disciplining. In future em- ployers — from the Prime Minister down- wards — should simply refuse to take any action on the basis of such 'reports'. And those caught in the leering glare of the tabloids, should, if there happens to be any truth in the allegations, simply say, 'It is true, but what of it? It is a private matter, of no just concern to your readers.' In any event — and this is something that Mr Peter May might consider — does the British public really mind if their politi- cians and sports stars are unfaithful to their wives? They are interested, but that is quite another matter. The truism that we expect higher standards of our leaders than we set ourselves may simply be untrue.
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