A couple of weeks ago, Chris Huhne, disgraced Liberal Democrat MP, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and will undoubtedly go to prison before very long. His political career is over.
Following Huhne's acceptance of his guilt, a jury found it impossible to arrive at a verdict in the case of his former wife, Vicky Pryce, who pleaded not guilty to the same offence on the grounds that Huhne had coerced her into complicity with his wrong doings. She employed a rarely used defence of marital coersion (they were married at the time of the offences) and it seems that this confused the jury. A second trial was convened and the new jury has now delivered a guilty verdict on Ms Pryce, rejecting her claims to have been coerced; she may well also go to prison within the next week or 2.
Pryce had become a frequent figure on BBC television programmes. She is, apparently, a respected, though left wing, economist of some standing and those of like mind at the Beeb, of whom there seem to be many, obviously saw her as a fellow traveller. The fact that she was actually a vindictive woman hell-bent on destroying the husband who'd left her for another woman seems not have bothered them, as she continued to appear even after Huhne was initially arrested.
While this whole saga is a very public and extreme example of what can happen when relationships break down, it's also yet another scandal to affect the political establishment and the Liberal Democrats in particular. From the days of Lloyd George, who was an acknowledged womaniser, through the scandals around Jeremy Thorpe and Paddy Ashdown, the Liberals have had trouble keeping out of trouble. More recently, Simon Oaten and Charles Kennedy have caused them serious embarrassment and now it's Huhne going to prison along with his ex-wife. Will it never end ?
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