Is the Cabinet secretary about to warn Tony about Cherie?

For more than 100 years one overriding principle has governed British public life: the fastidious separation of public and private interests. Those who have worked for the state — whether in the armed forces, the Civil Service, as MPs, or in some other way — have never used their office for private gain or any other selfish purpose. These principles were first explicitly set out at the time of the Gladstonian reforms of the public service in the mid-19th century and have been adhered to since under all governments, whether Liberal, Labour or Conservative. There have of course been many individual lapses from this high ideal; but the system itself has been extremely robust, surviving throughout the 20th century.

This special idea of strong, disinterested public service is now in rapid decay. There have been two principal aspects of disintegration. The first manifested itself with a ferocious attack by a new political class on the traditional institutions of the state.