When you hear that bullying is pretty much endemic in the House of Commons you might be tempted to despair for society, particularly when that bullying and unacceptable behaviour is carried out by MPs on their own staff.

The very people that we have elected and empowered to legislate for our protection and well-being have in their midst people who are arguably unfit for purpose. And it seems that it not just isolated cases.  

A poll of staff employed in the Palace of Westminster revealed that one in five considers themselves to have been bullied or the victim of unwanted sexual advances or inappropriate behaviour.

The stories in the media make depressing reading. Some might say that bullying exists in all workplaces or institutions but just imagine the furore that would ensue if one in five children in a school made a similar claim.

And one would hope that MPs had developed a little further than schoolchildren in the conduct of their interpersonal relationships.

I watched Prime Minsterial Question Time this week and continue to be amazed that members on all sides of the house still think it acceptable to bellow and bray in a manner more reminiscent of crowds watching the tumbrils bringing fodder for Mme Guillotine than conducting the serious business of government. 

Most of them must once have displayed sufficient intelligence to persuade their local party members to allow them to stand as candidates but have promptly forsaken both common sense and propriety in the bear pit they have created in the mother of parliaments.

I suppose we should not be too surprised on that evidence that around 20 per cent of them consider it acceptable to humiliate, bully and exploit their staff.

In many arenas of life people might see the need to assert themselves in order to survive or compete. But most of us will recognise when we have overstepped the mark and self regulate when our behaviour is pointed out.

I remember once as a young actor being mortified when I was told that my sarcastic behaviour with one member of the cast had upset him considerably. It never happened again. 

But when such a large number of the self appointed (albeit elected) regulators of our behaviour and lives feel it acceptable to behave like Flashman in Tom Brown and fail to self regulate, then something needs to be done.

But I am not holding my breath.