The Mail on Sunday’s Simon Walters has become the Pierrepoint of British politics. Chris Huhne has been led from his cell to a dimly lit room. As hurried prayers are muttered by St Vincent Cable, he turns his ear to see if the condemned man wishes to confess. There is a curt shake of the head before his saturine features are covered with a cloth bag. Seamlessly, Danny Alexander shackles his legs. There is an expectant silence as we wait for the lever to be pulled. But so far there is no sign of Clegg.

So how long is the story of Huhne’s “nul points” going to allowed to run?  The answer is up until the coalition is damaged by it. And at the moment it is still just a Beltway story.

The telephone saga is just a minor skirmish in the gory battle that is soon to come. The estranged wife hasn’t even published her book yet, let alone the serialisation, which will probably be in the Mail on Sunday.

The fate of Huhne will be a very Liberal affair. The trick is for the execution to be more in sorrow than in anger. An inevitable consequence of a foolish and venal man’s quest for power. Naked ambition always distorts judgement.

What my little brain fails to comprehend is why any politician, let alone an MEP (who are pumped with all the pomp and power of an Italian postman), should think that having driving points leading to a disqualification appears on any scale of a political scandal. It’s not as if he has been shagging a Royal Corgi or flogging pictures of Pippa Middleton’s bum.

The truth is this whole exercise exposes the gigantic fissure in Huhne’s psyche, a man driven by a hideous ambition. It seeps though his pores like whisky on a journalist.  

In many ways this is a mini Watergate with the cover up being far worse than the crime. I remember some very good advice given to me by a Chief Whip when I was accused of being involved in some political black ops by a tabloid: “never ask anyone to lie on your behalf as it always ends in tears”.     

Now, none of us know for sure whether Huhne persuaded someone to take some penalty points on his behalf. Even the MOS has failed to come up with a name. Yet.

But if it is true, it’s not just sacking and a humiliation; it’s prison. Perversion of the Course of Public Justice in cases like this  almost always carry a term of imprisonment.

So a by-election too. In the highly marginal seat of Eastleigh, once a Tory stronghold until poor old Stephen Milligan accidentally despatched himself on the kitchen table with a dustbin bag and an orange.

In any political scandal it’s always a good idea to see what sort of support there is in the House for the victim. Mellor was deeply unpopular and it was only through the decency of Major that he was kept around for so long.  At the time a Tory grandee explained to me the real reason for Mellor’s lack of support. On viewing a photo of the squalid room that he was meant to be consummating the tryst, the grandee pointed, with horror, to a bottle of sherry. “There’s your answer, dear boy”. I was perplexed. “Over a bottle of sherry?”. At this I thought the fellow was going to explode. “ But it’s Cyprus!” he bellowed.

So, who in his hour of need, will whisper sweet words of support for Huhne? I can’t think of anybody.

The rest is timing. Huhne cannot survive this. He has made too many enemies. And when he goes there will be no cluster of plotters.

Overweening ambition and the humiliation of a loyal wife has finally done for him.

Be that a lesson to all that aspire. 

Tags: Chris Huhne