But here is a third peril of the ethical regime that now applies. It has become impossible for a businessman, drawn into politics, to have his past regarded in anything but a suspect light, especially by the party that used to speak for business, the Conservative Party. In recent decades, most businessmen brought in at the top have made a mess of politics. They don't understand its discursive nature, can't adapt to the absence of autocratic command, the mode in which they have themselves usually succeeded. The chronic delays of government bewilder them.
Accountability is beyond their ken.
This was true of Tory experiments in the field, and it is no coincidence that neither Lord Sainsbury nor Lord Simon, Blair's two most glittering catches, have been let loose before the microphones when harassed with allegations of conflicted interest. They're not trusted to make the right sound-bite, and probably do not trust themselves. The dock, like the stump, is a part of political life that needs to be learned from the ground up. All that's left are the denial and the fax machine, which haven't been enough to de-mystify Lord Sainsbury, the Frankenstein food monster. Yet this doesn't make a case against letting business people into government, at least as long as the House of Lords remains as a place to park them.