J'accuse - or something like that

As a former PR pro, David Cameron will acknowledge that perception can be everything in politics. Accordingly he will soon need to take a view as to whether the sacking of Aidan Burley as a parliamentary private secretary is as far as he needs to go.

Cameron in the Independent

Burley, tory MP for Cannock Chase, was photographed at a stag dinner alongside a man wearing a replica SS officer's uniform. French prosecutors have begun an investigation into the event which saw guests performing Nazi salutes and drinking toasts to the Third Reich at a restaurant.

Les flics are said to considering possible charges of inciting racial hatred and being an apologist for Nazism – offences that can be punished with six-month jail term. To date however no-one in the Brit media has uncovered any corroborative info on Burley that might expose him as a closet fascist – and it’s not for the want of trying either.

For now, guilt by association will have to suffice which probably explains why the Independent covers the story using a picture that appears to depict the PM delivering the punchline to an anti-Semitic joke.


Update: Just had it pointed out that the Telegraph is using the same pic - but we're not going to allow accuracy to get in the way.