Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic...

One might be forgiven, in light of the utter mess in Westminster, for thinking that the UK is in the most chaotic state of any western nation.

Spare a thought for the people of the Czech Republic. The central European nation tends to be overlooked by a navel-gazing London press at the best of times, but as Europe comes ever closer to the crisis of the UK crashing out of the EU, and with anti-establishment parties on the rise elsewhere, it takes something special to raise the stakes in poor crisis management.

Step forward, then, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babis, who is this week facing the prospect of a vote of no confidence after footage emerged of his son, Andrej Babis Jr, claiming that he had been abducted by associates of his father in Crimea, to prevent him from testifying in an ongoing investigation into EU subsidy fraud.

Agrofert, the conglomerate established by and currently held in trust for Mr Babis, is alleged to have profited, fraudulently, from over 2m euros in EU subsidies paid to a farm and hotel complex, known as the Stork’s Nest, just outside Prague, since he came into office. The charges are severe enough for the EU’s anti-fraud office to have opened an investigation into his affairs, making him the only EU leader currently under such suspicion. He denies the allegations.

But in an extraordinary video released by website Seznam, his son Babis Jr, 35, claimed he had been detained by an associate of his father, Petr Protopopov, in Crimea, to prevent him from testifying to the anti-fraud office. Central to the investigation, as he had been one of the official owners of Stork’s Nest at the time of the alleged fraud, he claims he was forced to sign documents, but that at the time, he had no idea what it was he was signing. He was warned, he alleges, by Protopopov, that he could stay in Crimea, and not comply with the EU team, but that his only other option would be to be taken, by force if necessary, to a mental institution in Prague.

Mr Babis, of course, also denies this, claiming it is ‘fake news’. He says his son is in fact mentally ill (something Babis Jr concedes, admitting he was previously committed whilst living in in the Czech Republic), and that the story is fiction. This has not stopped opposition politicians from calling for a vote of no confidence, with his ruling coalition already finding itself in a precipitous position. Earlier in the year, Mr Babis was forced to make a pact with the Czech Communist Party in order to prop up his government – a roundly unpopular move, given the nations’ communist era past and Mr Babis’ own alleged ties to the Czechoslovak secret police, the StB, in the 1980’s (something he denies).

One might think that this was more than enough scandal to bring down a politician; accusations of corruption, fraud, oligarchy, kidnapping and spying are a heady cocktail. But, of course, there is more.

As well as having overseen Agrofert, Mr Babis owns a large network of newspapers and radio stations, including the paper Lidove Noviny. In the run up to the Czech Senate elections in October, a very public row broke out in parliament over a move to try to house 50 Syrian orphans in the Czech Republic in a gesture of goodwill, a plan Mr Babis publicly opposed.

What followed next bordered on farce. The week before the elections, an article was published on the online edition of Lidove Noviny, penned by one Tatiana Horakova, who claimed to be the head of an organisation called ‘the International Children’s Cross’. In it, she denounced the idea of re-housing Syrian migrants in the Czech Republic, and claimed she was an advisor to the government.

‘The International Children’s Cross’, however, does not exist. Whoever Tatiana Horakova is remains unclear, as per this piece in Tyzden from 2008. The article bearing her byline, it transpired, was sent to the paper directly from the offices of Mr. Babis. The editor-in-chief immediately published it verbatim, despite the queries over Ms Horakova’s identity.

The fallout, when it came to light, was understandably dramatic, with prominent journalists resigning, claiming interference from the PM’s office made their positions untenable, decrying that the paper was publishing ‘expert opinion’, unchecked or edited, from someone who could not prove their identity, and was planted by the Prime Minister.

This is a truly bizarre set of events, but for all this, Mr Babis remains in power, seemingly with little intent or prospect of leaving. It is not for us to discuss the rights and wrongs of his example: he denies the allegations, and it will be in other arenas, the Czech public spare, parliament and legal system, that he shall be judged.

But British readers should pay attention. Once upon a time, only one European leader could get away with this level of alleged impropriety and survive: Silvio Berlusconi, who was roundly decried as a unique product of the Italian political system. Yet since then, more and more of these cavalieri have ridden to the political foreground, none more so than Donald Trump. Britain is, in many ways, fortunate: Theresa May is certainly not (yet) such a leader. But to those who fear for the future of Western society, one need only look at the way in which an embattled Mr Babis is able to shrug off very real threats to his premiership as ‘fake news’ and continue on.

We should all keep an eye on Andrej Babis. It is entirely possible that his government and he could fall this week. Then again, it might not. And that’s the key. This level of scandal would have toppled many previous politicians and regimes, but this generation appears, for now, to be immune. The public seem desensitised to scandal. And if corrupt politicians are to be held to account, that immunity must be challenged.