I just turned on Question Time on BBC1 and the disgraced former Tory MP Neil Hamilton is on the panel. I was shocked. He allegedly took cash in brown envelopes to ask questions in Parliament back in the 1990's, and he helped destroy the last Tory government. Even if people were glad about that it meant when Blair came to power the Tories were such a feeble shadow of their former selves that there was little Opposition in Parliament and Blair and co had more of a free reign to do whatever they wanted.
The other infamous MP of that era was Jonathan Aitken, who allegedly was lining his own pockets by helping set up arms deals for his businessman friends. I remember the ITV programme 'Jonathan Of Arabia', he sued Granada Television over that. Aitken lied in Court and got 18 months imprisonment, he went bankrupt, his family name was ruined, and he claimed later he came near to killing himself.
Neil Hamilton was a junior Minister at the Department of Trade and Industry, now called the Department for Business. One of his roles was to oversee policy on oil companies. He was also a non-executive Director, part-time, for an oil company and was paid (I think) ?10,000 a year for this role. It was said he changed policy towards oil companies in Britain because it favoured the people who were paying him for this Director's role - so he was kind of poacher and gamekeeper all in one. He was found guilty of this by a Parliamentary inquiry, was heavily criticised by Tory high command, and had the Tories won in 1997 (and had he won his seat back) he would never have been a Minister again and most of the Tory front bench would never have spoken to him again either. He lost his seat at Tatton in 1997 to the independent candidate and former BBC newsman Martin Bell who ran on an anti-sleaze ticket.
Everything I'm typing here is from memory. It was said that Jonathan Aitken was keen to contact one or two senior Tory figures sometime later to try and rebuild his political career, but was advised 'they will refuse to take your call'. I remember Michael Howard, when leader of the Tory party later on, was asked by a TV interviewer whether he would have Aitken in the party again, Howard said "his career in the Tory party is over". We see little of Aitken now, I heard he went off to train to become a Priest. Neil Hamilton tried to become a reality TV figure, along with his wife and she, bizarrely, achieved reality TV fame - appearing on that Jungle programme (why?).
So I turn Question Time on tonight and there is Neil Hamilton sitting there as proud as you like, presumably to discuss politics and everything else they do on Question Time. I am amazed. I didn't watch it, but turned the TV over after about a minute. David Dimbleby, the host, did however mention the 'cash in brown envelopes' thing at the beginning - but I'm amazed he is on the show. It is truly incredible how people seem to be forgiven as the years go on. If Hamilton and Aitken hadn't helped destroy the Tories in 1997, creating a situation where there was little Opposition subsequently, there may have been, just maybe, a sufficient Opposition post-1997 to stand up to Blair over the Iraq war and possibly defeat the Government over that and we may not have gone into that war. Interesting, isn't it..