Howard Elston, our  Q/A guy answers the big questions that trouble our planet

TODAY:

Q:

How did politician Chris Huhne suddenly remember that he made his wife take his speeding points just before he was to go on trial?

A:

Our lawyer writes: As this is an active court case  we have advised Howard not to answer.

But our office  doctor writes: Memory is a strange thing. It is selective and geared to self preservation. A patient, who I shall call C, did not remember events for a decade. But when faced with a stern man on a bench with a white wig, a battalion of smart lawyers in black robes, an end of a career and the wrath of a nation,  he was impelled  suddenly to  re-assess his atrophied values.

In the psychotraumatic field, this is known as telling the truth. Medically, It can have an effect on  family, friends, the voting public and fellow workmates.