The announcement that Michael Trend, Tory MP for Windsor and formerly chief leader-writer of the Daily Telegraph, is to step down was slipped out late on Tuesday afternoon. The news made no more than a couple of paragraphs in one or two of the morning papers. Trend seems set to sink without trace.
But before he descends into his richly deserved oblivion, it is worth giving the circumstances surrounding his departure from politics a sharper look. Not because Trend was in any way memorable: until his fall from grace, he pursued a political career of crashing mediocrity.
But the Trend episode, in its ghastly way, illuminates modern British public life. It goes far towards explaining why Westminster politics is held in contempt. It demonstrates the amorality and gutlessness of the present Conservative party, and the hypocrisy of Tony Blair’s Labour government. It is a morality tale for our times.
The bare facts are as follows: six weeks ago the Mail on Sunday revealed that Trend, a former home affairs editor of The Spectator, had been claiming the very generous (and tax-free) London housing allowance available to all MPs who are obliged to live in the capital during the week.
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