I’ve been drunk before, I’ll probably be drunk again although not as much or as often as I did when I was younger. I’ve done some stupid things when younger under the influence of drink and fallen asleep in some odd places, such as a squat party in Stratford. I’ve even woken up after another party with some decidedly odd people, such as the members of a Punk band, who turned out to be delightfully friendly and polite and certainly proved that appearances can definitely be deceptive.

But no matter how much of a boozehound I was when I was young and daft, I’ve always got pissed on my own money and in my own time. Even when liquid lunches were both common and acceptable I always knew that I should limit work hours drinking and always paid for my own booze. I knew that I shouldn’t be in a position where I could make inebriation related work mistakes and also knew that in some industries and in some environments, those who buy you drinks are also, to a certain extent trying to buy you.

However, at no point in my boozy twenties did I get so pissed either at work or in my free time that I needed to be carried off of an aircraft in a bloody wheelchair. That is what has allegedly been the case for Labour MP Charlotte Nichols.

According to report in the Metro newspaper, Ms Nichols and two other MP’s from the SNP were flown out to Gibraltar on a Ministry of Defence sponsored trip to the military base there. The MP’s were allegedly drinking before the flight and then carried on drinking whilst on the flight. When the flight, about which there are a number of allegations circulating about the behaviour of the various MP’s, arrived in Gibraltar, Ms Nichols was so pissed that she needed to be removed from the plan with a wheelchair. She was also allegedly moved to a hotel on Gibraltar ‘for her own safety’ instead of attending a welcome dinner for MP’s.

FFS. Many of us like a drink. Many of us have been drunk. Many of us have imbibed a bit too much at certain points in our lives but there is something a little over the top about being so drunk that a person becomes temporarily wheelchair bound.

The Metro said:

Three MPs have been accused of getting a little too merry on a plane to Gibraltar – much to the disgust of the Defence Secretary.

Ben Wallace is said to be furious at the conduct of the trio on an official flight carrying members of the armed forces, with one Labour politician accused of needing a wheelchair to leave the plane.

The SNP have denied that MPs David Linden and Drew Hendry became ‘lairy’ on the visit, linked to the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, which gives politicians an insight into the work of the British military.

A source told the Daily Telegraph that Labour’s Charlotte Nichols – the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Pubs – became ‘incapacitated through drink… to the point where she had to be moved to the transport by wheelchair’.

The excuses and explanations for this incident are coming thick and fast with Ms Nichols blaming medication for the strange reaction to any drink that she had taken whilst others are accusing the Tories of ‘smearing’ the other MP’s alleged to be involved in bad behaviour. But Ms Nichols is going to take a leave of absence from the shadow front bench spokesman for equalities for ‘personal reasons’

The Tories have been accused by sources in the opposition parties of trying to divert attention away from their own sleaze scandal and normally I’d say that there could be something in this but for the fact that it was MOD staff who brought the bad behaviour of the MP’s to the attention of Mr Wallace the Defence Secretary.

Sleaze and bad behaviour is not confined to one party in Britain at the moment. All the parties have individuals whose hands are somewhat dirty and all the parties have people who are inclined to let things, whether they be drink related or otherwise, get out of hand. I must admit that at a time when respect for the political classes has been lower than it has been in decades and when they have been utterly out of touch with the mood of the populace, such behaviour as has been alleged that took place on the Gibraltar trip, does the image of Britain’s politicians no good at all. It’s one thing to get a bit pissed at a party or in a Commons bar after working hours but something quite different to get so pissed on a trip that was both work and for working, that an MP becomes incapable of walking. After this incident Britain’s tarnished Parliamentarians will be a lot more tarnished in the eyes of the public than they are already.