Neil wrote one about a young MP ­ “let’s hope his brains don’t go to his head” ­ and had to explain to Maggie that this wasn’t an insult, but a compliment. “She said, ‘Well, where are his brains if they’re not in his head? In his bottom?’”Neil tells this story while wearing nothing but a plastic fig leaf. Christine is similarly dressed, with the addition of a Donatella Versace-style wig. This is what is truly weird about the Hamiltons: they have no sense at all of how they appear to others.

Still, at least this means that no one could ever accuse them of taking themselves too seriously. The only reason they agreed to the shoot was money ­ not for themselves, but for a charity concerned with those falsely accused of sex crimes. Three thousand pounds was offered, the Hamiltons agreed and, despite Christine’s threats to walk out, stuck to their part of the bargain Actually, they rather got into it. Which is why I find myself standing in a fake forest with a near-naked Neil and Christine Hamilton cavorting ­ it’s the only word for it ­ behind me Christine is straddling a wolf Neil is pretending to be Tarzan.

My mother will never forgive me, but I think the world needs a laugh And the Hamiltons are nothing if not clowns Miranda Sawyer © ‘GQ’/The Cond?ast Publications Ltd. A version of this article appears in the January 2002 edition of ‘GQ’ magazine.’When Louis Theroux met the Hamiltons’ Tuesday 11 December 2001 BBC2, 9pm. Elizabeth Filkin has refused to respond to a challenge from Michael Martin, the Speaker of the Commons, to provide evidence of a whispering campaign against her. Robin Cook is reported in the press in August as trying to cool down a whispering campaign.”Mr Cook, the Leader of the House of Commons who is a member of the Commons Commission that will choose Ms Filkin’s successor, backed away from an accusation by the Speaker that Ms Filkin had leaked her resignation letter “It’s now clear how it came out. It was published and was not a leak,” Mr Cook said.The Speaker has demanded an inquiry into how her resignation letter was leaked. As disclosed in The Independent, Ms Filkin published the letter only after Mr Martin’s office disclosed some of it to the press – as she had told them she would.Mr Cook rejected claims that the Commons had since downgraded the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’ job description to three days a week.

He said that in 1998 “the job she applied for and advertised for which Ms Filkin got was for three days a week”. But scrutiny of the job description shows that, unlike the advertisement for the new appointment, it did not specify a three-day-a-week job.. Britain may reluctantly take the lead with a peace-keeping force in Afghanistan if no other European nation volunteers for the role, even though it has not offered to do so. The coalition force will include Islamic troops and be under one central command.As Taliban resistance crumbles, the American presence in Afghanistan is expected to be wound down. Officials say a European nation is likely to take the lead, and that Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan are possible sources of troops for the so-called stabilisation force.Germany, which organised the UN-backed talks on the future of Afghanistan, has said it will contribute to the force but there is no indication it is willing to take the lead.General Powell told a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels that he had been impressed with the offers of assistance from alliance countries and that more of those would be taken up once the direct military phase ended.Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said Britain would be “willing to play its part” by making troops available.