But the difficulties in forming a completely independent panel are immense - and the present system is wide open to abuse from people of all political persuasions who start throwing their toys out of the pram when they become upset at the tiniest of things.

Even if there were no councillors on the committee, there would be problems finding enough people who did not have a pre-formed opinion about a particular councillor, either favourable or unfavourable, brought before them and who sat on an individual's case having already found them guilty or not guilty before any evidence was presented.

Pendle Council leader John David is right to call on councillors to agree to improvements to the system to stop the almost childlike accusations made by complainants against their political opponents.

It is all too easy for someone whose has been the subject of an insult to go weeping to the Standards Committee claiming their accuser(s) of stepping out of line.

But politics is a bloody game. Sometimes the going gets tough and those at the centre should know this when they first get involved.

And he wonders what a Standards Committee, had such a body existed then, would have made of a complaint (which surely would have been made) from Labour MP Bessie Braddock who, when she accused Winston Churchill of being drunk, was met with the response: "You are ugly, Bessie. But in the morning, I will be sober."

A complaint against Churchill would surely have been made.

But would a committee have found Churchill guilty of breaking the rules? It's an interesting thought, isn't it?


PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice recently announced how pleased he was that journalist Polly Toynbee had revealed her salary to be £106,000 a year.

Now Mr Pendle is normally very grateful to Mr Prentice for airing his views on a wide variety of subjects.

On this occasion, however, he wishes he had kept his opinions to himself - from a strictly personal point of view, of course.

If Mr Pendle's friends and acquaintances read of a journalist earning such a wage, they might start to think that he is paid something similar.

Sorry, boys – if you had any thoughts of a free night out on Mr Pendle tonight, then quickly think again!