Does 'the top job' involve sacrifices?

The funniest part, Jess, was that several other broadcasters then found it almost impossible to avoid calling him Jeremy *unt. And it was so suitable.
Must be something about the name Hunt - I met David, now Lord, Hunt, when I was a member of the Wirral Humanist Group. We wanted to ask him about the fact that if we withdrew out children from RE they were left to sit alone. He told us, quite seriously, that we could not bring up our children to be moral adults if we did not believe in god. He was surprised that we were offended.

Surely someone who reaches a position of high office in Politics, The Police Force, Army, Navy whatever....... shouldn't be expected to drop any friends that they may have had for years. I agree they should be careful what they say in public but surely not in private?

I can't agree with you, gillybob. The references to Caesar's wife are not irrelevant and there must be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Prime Minister is not on intimate terms with anybody who could benefit from inside information. To say they could meet and just not discuss the things that would affect the business of the friend is just not believable. I think the friendship should be put on the back burner as long as one party is in a position to offer favours to the other by virtue of their position.
It is bad enough that people can pay to access politicians.

Yes I see your point Greatnan. But this happens in all walks of life regardless. In North East local politics it is almost a way of life with husbands, wives, sons, daughters supposed to be acting fairly and objectively when all the time they are tipping each other off or voting each other onto various panels, boards and committees. Are you suggesting they put their marriage or whatever on the back burner too?

There is such a thing as professional behaviour and maintaining boundaries. Rememeber the Archers - Mary and her strange husband - and the insider trading scandal. "I just happened to see her fax..."
When we have chiefs of the met who think it ok to accept a gift of a week in champneys from a "friend" then there is obviously plenty of scope for a wake up in all positions of power. Ok for a humble copper to accept a bottle of whisky from a local businessman who says he is a "mate" - no. Not if there is any chance of a conflict of interest. If you have power and are being paid by the public then you should act responsibly.

I don't think that friendships need to be put on the back burner as such, but the email from Brooks to Cameron about "looking forward to working together" said it all for me.

Cameron the prime minister, working together with Brooks, the editor of the discredited NoW, who in 2003 admitted during a Commons Select Committee to paying police officers for information, before being shut-up by the equally-discredited Andy Coulson!

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8632906/We-have-paid-police-for-information-Rebekah-Brooks-2003-appearance-at-Commons-Select-Committee.html

Am still trying to work out an appropriate fantasy 6 year Cultural Revolution experience for our Dear Leader.
I think perhaps just being unemployed lone parent with a few young school-aged children and told that he should "find work" and stop relying on benefits. This mythical work has to fit around school hours and the estate where he will complete this stint of real-life-experience has no obvious employment opportunities closer than a 30 min bus ride.
And our beloved secretary of state for education. Oh Yes! Just allocate him the role of "new teacher" in a school with a high turnover of pupils, on a desirable council estate. One of those not-doing-very-well academies perhaps. The head of department should allocate him all the classes that nobody else wants to teach.