Though he has had a blow of fate to test any man’s strength of character and moral depth, he is big enough to rise above bitterness. As he begins to come to terms with the shock, he will realise that acquiescence is the only way to serve the cause which he holds so dear.It is not yet clear how much damage that cause has suffered The Tories have had some luck. If there were to be such an incident, it was better that it should occur before the campaign proper, over a bank holiday weekend and while Jim Callaghan’s death was competing for the political headlines. But Mr Flight has enabled the Labour Party to relaunch its £35bn claim. The quicker he accepts Mr Howard’s judgement and disappears from the media, the easier it will be for the Tories to counter-attack.There are a lot of interesting aspects to the Flight affair.

In the circumstances, it would be extraordinary if he were able to think straight. Once he recovers that power, he will see that there is no alternative. This does not mean that his career in the Tory party is over. There is an important role for him in think-tanks, as an intellectual outrider making the case for greater radicalism.But the Parliamentary road is now closed and cannot be reopened. Mr Flight has devoted time, energy, money, heart and soul to the Tory party to have it all crumble to dust and ashes because of a few words at a private dinner.

It is so undeserved and so unfair.That said, politics never has been fair. The sentence may be harsh, but when a leader is fighting an election, his verdict must stand. There must be un duce, una voce.Mr Flight can hardly be blamed for his initial reluctance to accept the decision. This struck at Labour’s strategy – for Tory cuts have always been the Goebbelsian big lie at the heart of their campaign. Without it, they were floundering, until Mr Flight’s remarks.That was why Mr Howard felt it necessary to be ruthless. If Mr Flight had merely said that he disagreed with party policy, it would have been enough to fire him from the front bench.