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Cable, Cameron, Coalition, Murdoch, open government

After days of controversy, the Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed for Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to appear before a House of Commons committee to investigate accusations he has brought the government into disrepute following accusations he has been regularly dancing the Lambada.

The serious allegations have been building since it was revealed that Mr Hunt personally attended Lambada classes where it is claimed he got too close to his dancing partner when as the minister in charge of culture he was supposed to be unbiased and objective about all styles of dancing.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Cameron said:

Let there be no mistake that this government takes allegations of Lambada dancing by any government minister very seriously and if it is proven that the Culture Secretary has been secretly dancing too closely to his partners, while at the same time swinging his hips and shaking his bottom to Latin rhythms when he was supposed to be carrying out his functions as Secretary of State, he will have to face the consequences.

Mr Hunt has always denied accusations of inappropriate dancing but calls for his resignation intensified this week after it was revealed he attended classes with a Lambada teacher and has even had a sprung dance floor installed at his home.

In a statement on Wednesday to the House of Commons, Mr Hunt sought to persuade parliament that he had a full defence to the charge that he had behaved improperly and showed bias in favour of Latin American dances over other styles of entertainment and had got too close to the Lambada in particular:

I have strictly followed due process, seeking the advice of independent regulators and after careful consideration I decided to act on their advice and learn how to strut my stuff and shake my butt. The contacts I had with my dance partner were only at official dance lessons that were carefully minuted with other people present. I accept, and my adviser accepts, that those hip-grinding sessions may have overstepped the mark but I have always acted with proper intent and within the guidelines for ministerial conduct, even while cutting the rug with crazy abandon in time to officially approved hot, dirty Latin beats.

The Prime Minister is also facing accusations himself that his government has been too often turning a blind eye to cabinet ministers appearing to enjoy inappropriate closeness to dancing partners. The Hunt scandal comes after Business secretary Vince Cable openly appeared to be dancing very closely with his partner on the show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ late last year. At the time, Mr Cable denied there was any wrongdoing on his part and insisted he was simply declaring war on the other competitors. However, despite the bravado, he was eventually voted off by viewers clearly unimpressed by his disastrous attempt at a Rumba.

In answer to the criticisms, Mr Cameron announced Mr Hunt will be appearing before a special government committee which is being set up to investigate the accusations of ass shimmying and fanny rollicking against the Culture Secretary.

Expert consultants who are touted to have been selected to appear on the committee include Len Goodman from Strictly Come Dancing and Alesha Dixon from Britain’s Got Talent.

Political pundits expect the jury to be very harsh on Mr Hunt’s alleged booty shaking and say his attempts to swing and spin his way out of the scandal will be given very short shrift by the members of the panel.

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