PR over-ruling the proper responsibility of politicians

And following on from that: politicians are hypersensitive to the way in which the party might be criticized should an individual express a personal opinion. They respond by stripping an offender (such as Jenny Tonge) of her office. But when Geoff Hoon is criticized for failing in his job and imperiling the lives of servicemen, he merely says he is “extremely sorry”, and carries on as usual. Dismissing Jenny Tonge is an example of PR over-ruling the proper responsibility of politicians (which is to discuss social/political problems); Geoff Hoon’s apology is an example of PR finessing a failure to take responsibility. PR has produced the wrong result. Tonge should have stayed, and a wider debate might have opened as a result; Hoon should have gone.