The cat and the fox

Are the two animal stories of the week linked ? Well, only loosely but they both contain warnings about how British politics is going.

The cat was, of course, an example of the Dailymailisation of politics. That a senior minister should resort to dubious Mail tactics is very worrying. There is a very serious debate to be held about immigration, asylum and the Human Rights Act. Telling journalistic quarter truths to bigoted audiences does not advance such debates one jot. Our Home Secretary should be consulting with professionals and opinion leaders and then speaking with authority. Fortunately party conferences no longer matter. What does matter is the fear that Theresa May may start to believe her own headlines.

The Fox affair is still unfolding. Whatever has gone on it must be nipped in the bud and the most serious of sanctions needs to be considered. I suspect that Mr Fox's friend may be pushing himself as a kind of Middle East-style 'Mr Fixit'. This must not creep into British politics. It would be utterly destructive. If a minister has abused his or her position, s/he must be removed immediately. If we stamp on small indiscretions now we will prevent greater ones in the future.

So the link is ..........both tendencies need to be stamped on quickly and firmly before we find ourselves in the position of Italy or a corrupt Middle East-style sheikhdom - or the newsroom of the Daily Mail.