Sleaze is tricky to define but you recognise it when it hits you. It first entered the political lexicon in the 1990s, and it seems never far away. Right now, there is something of an avalanche of the stuff overwhelming the body politic and burying reputations along with it.
Even though people become inured to scandal, and some cases go back a few years, it is surely shocking that more than 50 MPs reportedly face allegations of sexual misconduct. That includes three cabinet ministers, two shadow ministers, and at least one allegation that would constitute a criminal offence.
The latest allegation is one of bullying against Labour MP Liam Byrne. He has been found to have bullied a former member of staff and will be suspended from the Commons for two days. Mr Byrne had been referred to the Independent Expert Panel (one of a confusing number of overlapping standards bodies) under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), a new-ish procedure introduced after a previous spate of bullying and sexual harassment allegations involving the staff of MPs and employees of parliament itself in around 2017. The ICGS is the body, with external investigators, that is looking into the 56 sexual misconduct allegations, and 14 other cases.
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