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I hope that all unfaithful fathers read this in shame

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The most shocking detail to emerge from the terrible saga of Chris Huhne’s downfall is not that he lied for so long, or that he left his wife for another woman. No, the truly damning fact is that he was prepared in the end to gamble his relationship with his own son in order to save his career.

As a parent, I can’t be the only one who read those devastating text messages between Huhne and his youngest son Peter, then just 18, and felt a mixture of sympathy and fury. 

For what makes this sad story even worse is that Chris Huhne himself allowed those texts to go into the public domain — a decision that had nothing to do with a father’s love, and everything to do with the ambition of a supremely selfish man.

Had Huhne pleaded guilty when he was charged, the text exchanges would never have been made public

His son’s anger, despair and hate are visceral. ‘You disgust me,’ he says in one of his milder outbursts. Huhne’s replies, on the other hand, could almost have come from an anger-management textbook — calm, neutral, devoid of either culpability or emotion. 

There’s no apology for the pain he’s caused by his affair, no admission of grief for breaking up a family. Just repeated declarations of love — made, I can’t help but feel, with one eye to possible future legal proceedings.

Had he pleaded guilty when he was charged, those text exchanges would never have been made public. As it was, they were out in court as part of Huhne’s bid to prove the case against him was ‘gossamer-thin’ and should not come to trial.

  More... UKIP leader Nigel Farage rules out standing in Eastleigh by-election but pledges party will fight 'as hard we can' 'I want to nail him, I would love to do it soon': What Chris Huhne's scorned ex-wife 'told reporter before revealing she had accepted his speeding points' Huhne faces being kicked out of Lib Dems in final insult from party he longed to lead

How can he have thought, for so much as a split second, that it was justifiable to expose his heartbroken son in that way? Divorce can be bitter and high emotions cloud everyone’s judgment.

But it beggars belief that any father could put saving his career before protecting his child — even a father who’s a politician and therefore more likely than most to be an arrogant egotist addicted to risk-taking.

It’s nearly three years since Huhne told his wife, Vicky Pryce, at home one Saturday afternoon, that his affair with his aide Carina Trimingham was about to be exposed in the News of the World. He had 30 minutes ‘to kill the story’, he said. Then he wrote a brief Press statement admitting the affair and announcing that he and his wife were separating — and went off to the gym.

Heart-rending: Peter's text messages certainly give the lie to any idea that older children suffer less when their parents divorce

After betraying his family in this appalling manner, he continued to do so by denying, until yesterday, that he had asked Vicky to accept speeding points on his behalf. 

Today, he stands exposed not just as an adulterer, but a serial liar brought down by hubris — and Vicky wouldn’t be human if she hadn’t spent hours imagining how exultant she would feel at his downfall. After all, as we now know, she emailed one journalist to say: ‘I definitely want to nail him more than ever.’ 

Well, that objective’s certainly been achieved — but at too high a cost.

The agony of their son, heart-rending in its depth and ferocity, has been laid bare to the world. His text messages certainly give the lie to any idea that older children suffer less when their parents divorce.

Meanwhile, one hopes Vicky is asking herself whether she could have done anything to prevent such a terrible rupture between her son and his father, and whether she can do anything to help restore it.

The judge has indicated that Huhne will go to prison. Ultimately, I suspect the loss of his liberty will be infinitely more bearable than the loss of his son.

If any good is to come out of this awful tragedy, is it too much to hope that unfaithful fathers all over the country are vowing to end their affairs before it’s too late? And kiss their children tonight with more than usual tenderness, promising silently never to hurt them. 

But that will come as small comfort to the wounded young man who, through no fault of his own, has been thrust into the centre of this tawdry case. 

The damage to him has been done. And although a day may come when he decides he wants to see his father, I suspect he’ll never be able to trust him again.

 

Model Cara Delevingne, who’s 20, says she hates going out with young men and needs instead a man of around 40 in order to ‘feel OK’. Speaking as an older woman, my advice to Cara is to be careful what you wish for. Make the most of those 20-year-olds while you still can.

  Don’t turn wild to depose queen Kate Next top model: Georgia May Jagger wants to cultivate an edgier, more dangerous image

Last year, I sat near Georgia May Jagger on a transatlantic flight. She drank only water and orange juice, had lovely manners and looked stunning even with no make-up and messed-up hair. 

So I was disappointed to hear that she now wants to cultivate an edgier, more dangerous image in order to knock Kate Moss off the modelling top spot. 

Given that she’s not only more beautiful than Kate but also nearly 20 years younger, my advice would be not to bother. 

By this time next year, she could steal Kate’s crown by staying just the way she is.

Joy under the coversAs I can think of almost no mood short of euphoria that can’t be improved by reading a good book, I was delighted by the news that reading reduces stress by as much as 67 per cent and that doctors will now recommend certain books to beat depression. 

My top two stress-busting recommendations among recently published books are The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, which are uplifting, thought-provoking and witty. 

For a long immersive read, Wolf Hall. Avoid at all costs Fifty Shades Of Grey, airport thrillers and most so-called literary fiction, and you’ll be feeling better in no time.

Delia Smith says she won’t do any more TV cookery programmes. She wants to teach people how to cook; the BBC want her simply to entertain.  I imagine this decision has been made by executives in Paul Smith suits whose idea of cooking is to spend  four hours on a Saturday afternoon labouring over something pretentious by a celebrity chef. 

Now Delia’s launching an online cookery school, where those who want real cooking as opposed to celebrity entertainment will learn how to turn fantasy into reality.

I predict the nation will discover it still needs her. And the BBC will discover that it’s cooked its own goose.

  Childlessness is not a life half livedAuthor Hilary Mantel, who has suffered for 40 years from a severe form of endometriosis, says: ‘I think I would have found motherhood an all-consuming pursuit.’ 

Helen Mirren says she kept thinking she would have children ‘but it was not my destiny’, while the wonderful Eric Pickles admits sadly that he and his wife, Irene, are not childless by choice. Yet all three have made their mark on the world, and managed in spite of their unfulfilled yearning to have full lives. 

As the magnificent Eric says: ‘You can allow something like that to eat you up, and it’s massively important for it not to do so.’ 

What a refreshing change to today’s pervasive culture of self-pity.

  She may be a whizz at maths, but when it comes to fashion Carol's definitely got her sums wrong

As I’ve yet to see her in anything that didn’t look a size too small, it’s no surprise to learn Carol Vorderman prefers tight clothes.

She may be a whizz at maths, but when it comes to fashion she’s definitely got her sums wrong. She thinks curvy figure + tight clothes = sexy. In fact, it just looks cheap.

The most reliable fashion equation is actually, as the infinitely more stylish Joanna Lumley recently advised: clothes a size too big = figure that looks smaller.

Theresa’s charisma bypass

The tricky job of Home Secretary has been a fast route to the political graveyard for many ambitious politicians, from David Blunkett to Jacqui Smith. Theresa May, however, has flourished, and is now being talked up as a candidate for Tory Party leader. 

She’s certainly cool and competent — but what she lacks is personality. Despite her penchant for kitten heels and recent wardrobe makeover, she comes across as a rather dull head girl. 

Unlike Margaret Thatcher and Hillary Clinton, both as passionate as they are clever, she seems to lack soul. If she’s serious about her leadership ambitions, she needs to show us the fire beneath the ice.

New mothers need those visitors

As the Mail showed with its glorious picture spread on Monday, in the Fifties all mothers were taught by district nurses how to wean their children.

New mothers today are seen by health visitors, but most are lucky to be visited more than once. A YouGov poll a few years ago showed that 76 per cent of parents want advice on their children’s health and development from a health visitor, but found their numbers were in freefall.

After coming to power, David Cameron promised to employ 4,200 more health visitors by 2015. By last November, their numbers have gone up by just 200.

Meanwhile, research from the Government’s Troubled Families Unit has revealed that a poor diet means some three-year-olds can’t chew, while other can’t walk because they’re left in their buggies for hours in front of the TV. Time to deliver on that promise, Mr Cameron.




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