Roundheads and Cavaliers

摘要

Two committees on Standards of Conduct in Public Life began taking evidence on January 17th. Each was set up by the prime minister, in the wake of 1994's cash-for-questions parliamentary scandals. Each is chaired by Lord Nolan, a judge, and has the same members. Each is meeting in the same lilac-and-beige room in the austere Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, at the same time, with the same witnesses, before the same cameras and reporters. But, in truth, two separate inquiries are under way. One is indeed looking at methods of ensuring (in the words of the committee's terms of reference) "the highest standards of propriety in public life". The other is looking at something quite distinct: as the same terms of reference put it, at "current concerns" about the said standards-or, as Lord Nolan puts it, at "restoring public confidence". In other words, one inquiry is about reality, the other about perception.