The price of nookie is eternal vigilance

Mr Marsden told The Independent yesterday that he had stepped down from his Shrewsbury seat because of the revelations about his personal life.

He said: "I never had any allegations that I was a bad constituency MP but, in effect, I was forced to step down, because I never knew what was coming next: in 2003 there weren't just strange goings-on with my mobile phone but there was somebody impersonating a police officer trying to discover my whereabouts, which caused great distress to people close to me.

"Someone was getting information from secure telephones and that massively undermined trust and caused a huge amount of upset and heartache... It is hugely important that a democratically elected MP can talk with complete security to a constituent or a cabinet minister and know that that information can remain confidential."

Or, in other words, it is hugely important that a democratically elected MP can shag other women and know that that his wife will not find out.

Somehow, I do not think Mr Marsden will be getting much sympathy on this matter.