Young, bald and proud

Humanity's capacity for self-deception and hypocrisy seems limitless. But the Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten should win a special award for taking my breath away. He has blamed going bald for his affair with a rent boy, the disclosure of which affair forced him to leave the contest for leader of the Lib Dems earlier in the spring. That's right, going bald. Not being gay.

The MP for Winchester had the following to say in an article published yesterday:

"I was turning 40 and I really felt that I was losing my youth. The problem was undoubtedly compounded by a dramatic loss of hair in my late thirties."

"I came more and more obsessed by its disappearance."

Oaten also blamed the culture of lying in Westminster for the affair, saying: "Deceitfulness is the norm." No shit!

He said his wife Belinda (also known as 'Beard-linda'?) had thrown her wedding ring at him and tried to hit him when the story was about to break but they are trying to rebuild their marriage.