President Donald Trump speaks a lot about fake news and if you look at the headlines at the moment you could be forgiven for thinking that they had been fabricated. But unfortunately not. The democratically elected government of Catalonia has been locked up for holding an "illegal independence referendum" and in Britain parliament is involved in a sex scandal. Both issues are very serious.
In Britain, members of parliament, whose reputation had already been tarnished by the expenses scandal, are under fire again for improper conduct. So far it is only a handful of MPs who are under investigation but mud sticks and the conduct of a few is tarnishing the image of many, which is a great shame. Theresa May and the other political leaders need to quite literally put their house in order and ensure that the high standard of parliament and the trust which voters put in their MPs is not broken.
Turning to Catalonia, it does appear to be rather bizzare that the former pro-independence government of one of Spain's richest regions has been sent to jail or is under threat of arrest. Yes, they broke the law by organising a referendum which was not legal, yes they probably crossed the line but should they really be sent to jail when house arrest or even electronic tagging would have been an easier option? And how does this leave Catalonia? The independence issue is not going to go away.
The sex scandal in the British parliament and the crisis in Catalonia have one thing in common. Voters deserve better; this is a time for leadership not for bully-boy tactics and bad conduct.