Guido was in the room when Chris Huhne stood next to Sayeeda Warsi at their joint “Labour’s Legacy of Waste” press conference in those heady coalition days of August 2010. He stood there, perfectly calm, with his characteristic blank stare. He showed no sign of disagreement when Warsi said:

“That’s why today, I have written to each of the candidates in the Labour leadership contest and asked them to confirm that they, and other former ministers supporting them, intend to renounce their ministerial severance pay. At a time when people across the country are being asked to tighten their belts to deal with Labour’s economic mess, it is unacceptable that the very people responsible, walk away with up to £20,000 each. Forfeiting this pay would be the first step towards accepting their responsibility, and the first sign that they had come to terms with the mistakes of their past.”

Whatever happens in court on Friday, Huhne broke the Ministerial Code. If that is not “a mistake of the past”, then what is?