Smoke and Mirrors

Here is Alan Watkins, writing in the Independent: Political history is a strange business. In the past week alone I have read that the late John Profumo was an Etonian; was a member of the Cabinet; was thought to be a possible Tory leader; and brought down the Macmillan government. Every single one of these statements is false. In fact Profumo was a Harrovian; was a middle-ranking minister outside the Cabinet; was considered lucky to have progressed as far as he had; and resigned from a government which, so far from being brought down by anybody, went merrily on its way under Harold Macmillan till autumn 1963 and then under Alec Douglas-Home, who very nearly won the 1964 election.