‘Liar Liar your bum’s on fire’ might hopefully pass through the mind of disgraced politician Chris Huhne when he is finally introduced to his new cellmate.
After all, the judge at yesterday’s trial made it very clear that Huhne is looking at serving time, after he finally pleaded guilty to the serious charge of perverting the course of justice.
It has taken him over a year of straight faced denial, legal manipulation and a large and costly police investigation to make him see the light.
Huhne was originally only guilty of doing what many other couples have probably done. He was ‘flashed’ speeding on the M11 and instead of admitting he was the driver of the vehicle, he persuaded his then wife (at the time of the incident) to say it was her and to take the fine and the points on his behalf.
It took almost ten years before his deception hit the headlines and only because his, by now, ex-wife wanted her revenge. She was intent on ruining his meteoric rise in the world of politics; it was the classic case of a woman scorned by a husband who had left her for another woman.
Huhne chose to lie to the courts, the government, his constituents, and the electorate as a whole, by claiming it was all just a fabricated story with absolutely no merit. As his denials increased, so did the severity of the criminal charges.
The irony is: if he had ‘come clean’ at the start, he would likely have received just a meagre fine and a few more points on his driving licence. His ex-wife would not have had any ammunition to bring about his downfall.
Even while announcing his intention to resign as an MP, Huhne tried to trivialise what he had done by saying: “Having taken responsibility for something that happened 10 years ago, the only proper course of action for me is to resign my Eastleigh seat in Parliament, which I will do very shortly.”
It was almost as if he thought the passing of time meant he hadn’t done anything wrong and it was acceptable to lie his way out of trouble – he is/was after all an arrogant politician.
Personally, I am delighted that Chris Huhne is no longer a part of our political process. I am tired of listening to politicians and not knowing whether they are telling the truth, or promoting a dubious policy driven by self interest and outside forces. The recent child abuse revelations have helped to highlight the cover ups and misinformation tactics that have been used in politics for decades, to divert our attention away from the facts.
Ultimately, I hope that Chris Huhne’s fate becomes a solid reminder to all his ex-colleagues, that there are alternative publicly funded ‘bars’ to those they normally frequent at Westminster.