I blame Paul Dacre, myself...

Tory leader Michael Howard is urging pop stars and celebrities to be positive role models to children as he outlined his party's policies on drugs.

He said it was surprising that rock singer Pete Doherty should dominate the newspapers despite his alleged drug taking and recent time in jail.

"Here you have a man who takes drugs and gets locked up - yet ends up on the front pages," said Mr Howard.

Yeah, Mike. The lead singer of a band with a recent chart-topping album, a drug habit and an on/off relationship with Kate Moss, I can't see for one second what the press find so newsworthy about him. Why can't he just behave like that nice Busted band?

That said, the moral rot clearly set in a long time ago:

A would-be MP who admitted to having "worked as a tart" has been kicked off a shortlist of candidates by Labour.

Christine Wheatley was dropped as a possible candidate for Copeland in Cumbria after she confessed to having taken money for sex in 1970s Paris.

If only they'd had blogs back then, even the Telegraph would have approved of a blogging call girl Labour candidate.