THE Matt Hancock affair and misbehaving politicians continued to be debated by columnists in the newspapers - plus how Covid has hit older women in employment.

The Daily Mail

Jan Moir said her ‘balloon of compassion’ at all the heartbreak in the aftermath of the former Health Secretary’s affair with his aide ‘popped and shrivelled’ at news that he is already plotting a political comeback this year, despite his dramatic resignation from the Cabinet for breaking his own Covid rules.

“His bomb-proof bumptiousness astounds, his naivety and optimism even more so,” she said. “The public might possibly forgive him for the love affair because, for better or worse, such things are no longer resigning matters.”

But, she said, the more important issue is the fact that he broke his own Covid rules and was not focused on his job - one of crucial importance.

“It says everything that the shamed former Health Secretary is already manoeuvring to get back into the forefront of public life, jostling for position amid this ramshackle hokey-cokey of chancers and former journalists, pocket-liners and chisellers. Even for him, it might be a high step too far. “

The Daily Express

Frederick Forsyth asked if anyone in high office had the right to maintain that their behaviour in private life is wholly their business and nothing to do with the rest of us?

He thinks not.

“In truth such elevation [to high office] comes after years of effort and striving upwards through the ranks,” he said. “So the rule could be crystal clear - if you can’t stop tupping the au pair and every secretary in range, don’t go for high office. It’s not compulsory.”

He said, given that taxpayers fund much of their life, we are entitled to a person of honesty, truthfulness, fairness, decency and courtesy to others.

“If you do not possess these qualities and everything on camera is a façade to hide the nasty piece of work behind the veil, stay out of public life.There is nothing compulsory about striving to become one of the high and mighty. But there is a price tag. Behave yourself.”

The Guardian

Gaby Hinsliff said Anne Robinson had toned down her act for her Countdown debut on Monday but remained as sharp and punchy as ever in her pre-broadcast interviews.

“After this long in the business, she knows her shtick,” she said. “And love it or loathe it, there is something rather thrilling about her determination not to be put out to grass.”

She said pre-Covid, women were driving employment among the over-50s to record highs; by 2019, older female employment rates were up 15% from the millennium. But Covid hit this group hard.

“As the saying goes, you have to see it to be it, and too many women glancing around their industries see a puzzling vacuum where the powerful over-55s should be,” she said. “Any glimpse of an older woman in her professional prime represents a flicker of hope.”