As the fallout from the News International scandal spreads, it now seems unavoidable that even the formal constitution of British government will be affected.
At the very least, it appears that it may no longer be a prerequisite for those seeking the highest office of UK government to first kneel and kiss the hands of an American tax-dodger. Traditionally this ceremony has been performed behind closed doors, at such consecrated locations as Wapping docks and Hayman Island.
Constitutional experts have expressed alarm at the immoral vacuum this change will leave in British politics, and a parliamentary committee is currently working to devise an alternative scheme. In the short term it is understood that the pornographer Richard Desmond has been approached and offered the opportunity to undertake the role in a caretaker capacity.
Nevertheless, the long-term survival of the ceremony is far from assured. To some critics it has always seemed anachronistic, and even to serve a role contrary to democracy. Indeed the fact that this tradition was maintained for more than three decades may surprise future generations of Britons – as much as it might generations past.
