The current controversy surrounding Foreign Secretary William Hague and his (now resigned) special adviser, a 25-year-old young man of no special international experience, will, I think, continue on for a while, despite his denial last night and his revelation that he and Ffion, his wife, had tried and failed to have a child several times over the past years. There had been rumours for years that Hague might be gay, fuelled by the fact that he married late, when he was Welsh Secretary in the Major Government. Those rumours swirled away at the marriage, and had not surfaced again until now. In my opinion, Hague showed poor judgment in ignoring how the situation would look (for example, they shared a hotel room during the campaign—if the special advisor were a woman, Hague would instantly have known that such an arrangement would be inappropriate) and that alone raises questions about his position in Government. I do not accept that being gay is a slur (the way the Daily Mail seems to), but I do think that demonstrated poor judgment in a politician should relegate that politician to the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
A parable: Lyndon Baines Johnson, President of the United States from 1963-1969, was a tough and dirty campaigner. You had to be to get elected in Texas in those days. During one particularly difficult and filthy campaign, Johnson and his campaign staff were sitting around the conferene table throwing out ideas for the campaign. Johnson suddenly said, “Hey, I know. Let’s put out a rumour that my opponent fucks pigs!” The staff were puzzled and horrified. One said, “But Lyndon, we can’t say that! You know it isn’t true!” Johnson grinned and said, “Yeah, I do. But let the sonofabitch deny it.”