We Are the Cheeky Gutter Press

So, the world shaking news in the world of British politics is that Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik has ditched his fiance in favour of one half of the 'Cheeky Girls', a self-styled pop duo consisting of two Romanian sisters. I'm not sure what shocked me most; his infidelity or his lack of taste, to quote Man to Man's Dean Lerner. I like the way that the press has belatedly found some 'justification' for their overblown coverage of the story (several days after it initially broke), by reporting that Mr Opik had 'intervened' to stop his new squeeze and her sister from being deported by the Home Office (actually, he just wrote to their MP). Of course, the question this whole business raises in my mind is exactly why this story is getting so much coverage, whilst the matter of that Tory MP who is swinging between Arthur and Martha I mentioned a few posts ago, still hasn't hit the headlines (not even locally), despite it being just as much common knowledge amongst insiders as Opik's affair.

OK, I know that the Tory MP is only a back bencher (although he once was a junior minister), whilst Lembit Opik is something of a TV personality and apparently Lib Dem spokesperson for something or other, and therefore more 'notable'. (Actually, I saw Opik speak a couple of weeks ago and still can't remember what he's spokesperson for, or what he actually said. He is very personable and a first-rate self-publicist). Obviously, it can't have anything to do with the fact that much of the press in this country is rabidly pro-Tory. God forbid. Of course, the fact that Opik's dalliance is with someone semi-famous helps. Maybe if the Tory MP was shagging somebody from a boy band on the side, his story might finally hit the headlines. Still, if nothing else, I suppose Lembit Opik running off with a Romanian 'singer' half his age at least gives his party a more exciting image than it has had of late under Menzies Campbell. Maybe Mr Campbell could have an affair with Dame Vera Lynn...