Was Pam Posnett thinking of her electoral chances when she said this, calculating that there were at least as many criminals in Melton North as ordinary householders, and that therefore it was advisable for her not to come too firmly down on the side of householders against burglars?

Even more alarming, however, was the manner in which she expressed herself. It was thoroughly representative of the moral and intellectual degeneration of public life in this country. At the same time, of course, I have personal sympathy for Pam Posnett: it must be terribly boring to have to live with thoughts such as hers.