It is easy to look back on the 2000s with magenta-tinted glasses. Certainly, there was no major land war in Europe, or a global pandemic. Meanwhile, to be a Eurosceptic basically meant tutting about ever-closer union. Few seriously suggested leaving the EU.
But the second half of the decade was something of a disaster for trust in politics. There was the fallout from the Iraq war, with a bloody insurgency and no nuclear weapons to be uncovered. This was swiftly followed by the Global Financial Crisis, which shook faith in our financial institutions and saw queues of people outside of banks.
But perhaps the greatest peril was to be found in the MPs' expenses scandal. Long before Downing Street held parties amid a national lockdown, this was considered something of a nadir for our politics. Don't forget, some MPs and peers were jailed for fraud, while many others had to pay back thousands of pounds. This after a steep recession.
Given the state of the world, the public finances and the sheer cynicism that permeates our political discourse, it is not obvious where this latest 'freebies' scandal ranks. No doubt, it is embarrassing for the prime minister that he has agreed to pay back £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he has received since entering Number 10.
A lot of this is self-inflicted. First, the choice to accept quite so many donations in the first place. Earlier this month, Sky News' Westminster Accounts project revealed that Keir Starmer haddeclared more gifts and freebies than any other MP, with his total surpassing £100,000 since December 2019.
Second, this is coming in something of a domestic news vacuum. The government simply isn't announcing very much. This is understandable, given that the biggest political moment of this parliament, the Budget, is mere weeks away. But the media has inches to fill and Labour is not proactively feeding them much else. Indeed, now that Starmer has returned money, the same question will be asked of the rest of the cabinet.
Third, Starmer made great play in opposition of his probity. He forensically attacked the previous Conservative government in all sorts of areas, from Number 10's wallpaper to VIP lanes for Covid-19 suppliers. To that end, Labour's election manifesto promised to "restore confidence in government and ensure ministers are held to the highest standards". It would do so by establishing a "new independent Ethics and Integrity Commission, with its own independent Chair." So, where is it?
Writing for the Institute for Government, Sir Jonathan Jones, a former Head of the Government Legal Service, pointed out that we are "yet to see any details of the EIC, what form it will take or what it will do." Moreover, the prime minister is yet to even issue a Ministerial Code, or formally grant his advisor on ministerial interests further powers.
Raising standards in public life will never feel more urgent than repatriating British citizens from war zones or preparing for a vital fiscal event. But it is something that this government is learning could in fact come in handy, not least if it has nothing else to announce.
