Political standards

No-one seems terribly surprised or upset that two stories in The Independent on Sunday accuse the Prime Minister of telling lies. First, the cash for peerages scandal:

Millionaire Labour Party donors have contradicted Tony Blair's evidence to the police in the cash-for-honours affair - saying that they were nominated for their public service to the nation, and not for services to Labour, as claimed by the Prime Minister.
Secret No 10 papers, copies of which have been seen by The Independent on Sunday, back up their claims, putting fresh pressure on Mr Blair over the cash-for-honours affair.

Secondly, the SFO inuiry:

Tony Blair personally took charge of efforts to pressure the Attorney General to drop the probe. He ordered supportive assessments from the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office. These were then presented to the head of the SFO and formed part of Lord Goldsmith's "public interest" justification for calling off the probe.
The Prime Minister's determination to stop the SFO investigation has left the detectives working on the case furious.

There was a time when such accusations would be headline news. But standards have now fallen so far that today's response is little more than "whatever". The allegations are ignored but not denied.