Oh, no John...

John Redwood, the Vulcanised Tory MP who, no matter how hard he tries, never seems able to smile (have you ever seen a photo of him looking happy?) puts a delightful spin on the breakdown of his marriage.

In a "you ask the questions..." in The Independent (19/02/07), he is chided by a reader for preaching family values, while leaving his own wife.

John (I think it is de riguer to call all Tory MPs by their first names now, isn't it?) brusquely retorted that he didn't leave his wife: "...[she] decided to live in her house in Dorset, and sold me her share of the family home..."

The reality of divorce sounds much less messy and more matter-of-fact that way, doesn't it?

If only everyone had the prudence, forward planning and basic common sense to keep a house or two each running and available in the marital background. Just in case.