Why then have we seen so many scandals in different institutions in such quick succession? There is perhaps only one trend which runs through them all and which may help us to learn lessons for the future: in each instance, behaviours which were accepted within closed institutional circles were opened up to the public glare and did not stand up to scrutiny.

This statistic will disturb you: according to MORI just over half of us believe that a man or woman in the street will tell us the truth where as only 14% believe that politicians will do the same.

The UK faces challenges of such enormity that we urgently need to reconnect with, and put all our trust in, the political class.

Talks resume this week between the fuel distributors and Unite the Union to avoid a petrol delivery strike. I bet Francis Maude can hardly suppress his anxiety as the prospect of a REAL strike actually gets closer.

Although I do not agree with a lot of what George Galloway says and certainly never want to meet the man, I do think the brand that is George Galloway is a force for good in this country.

At a time when our country faces some very difficult decisions about what we should do about public finances, hardly anyone trusts those who are leading the way ahead.

If the NHS was a patient, it would be as if it went, feeling a bit queasy, to see its GP more than 20 years ago. Without warning, it was sent straight to hospital, kept in, operated on, helped to recover, operated on again, and again, and then again.

The phone-hacking scandal has "corroded" trust in the media and only 38% of people believe what they read in newspapers, a study has revealed. A...

Britons are now struggling in a trust vortex - they no longer rely on the people that are meant to be accountable, transparent and reliable to tell the truth. They are living in a post-trust era.

Whatever they do, MPs should not ignore this report. Otherwise, a poor result could become a given. And alongside journalists they will simply become a group of people you simply shouldn't trust.