There’s no harm in a bit of flirting. Don’t get me wrong, says Melissa Kite: I’ve no truck with genuine sexual harassment. I do object, though, to the way sleaze stories are portraying even minor acts of flirtation as uniformly sinister, and casting all women as helpless, “passive victims”. In my days as an ambitious young lobby hack, did I ever feel exploited? Not that I recall. But I certainly remember taking advantage of plenty of British MPs myself, ruthlessly deploying my feminine charms to extract information. I must have taken hundreds out to meals and drinks over the years. I used to particularly enjoy my regular dinners with Michael Fallon (now one of the accused) at party conference time, as “I knew the gossip would be flowing as freely as the wine”. I don’t remember him ever overstepping the mark, but I’m fairly sure that, at least once, “I ever so slightly gave him the come-on” in the hope of getting good political dirt. Sexual assault is inexcusable, “but flirting? Flirting makes the world go round. Well, it made my world go round anyway.”. (Melissa Kite, The Spectator).

Well, yes. This is a point of view we haven’t seen expressed in this often deadly serious and unsmiling world. Epicurus, always in favour of enjoying life (in moderation, of course) would have enjoyed a flirtation as much as you or I. Indeed, I imagine him picking a rose in his garden and handing it to a pretty follower with a charming smile (no, there is no documentary evidence for this; I just hope he did it at least once in his life). Please don’t let our disgust at sordid power plays by powerful men stop us enjoying an occasional rejuvenating and morale building flirtation. As for me, I am happy to flirt with my wife!