HOME Secretary Jack Straw comes though politically unscathed from the affair of his son being arrested for alleged drug-dealing.

Indeed, a new opinion poll shows his standing with voters may have actually improved as a result of his handling of the matter.

But if Mr Straw draws any comfort from that, on a personal level he must, surely, still reflect that the ordeal he and his family have been put through these past few weeks is one that he would have happily forgone, no matter what the benefit has been in political terms.

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