With outrage in the air, the Epstein scandal offers us the chance to rebalance the rotten relationship between the people and power, Neil Mackay argues.

It's said the Profumo scandal killed the age of deference. It wasn’t just the smart kids on TV shows like That Was The Week That Was who slit the throat of a culture of bowing and scrapping to power and wealth.

The man and woman in the street wielded the blade proficiently, determinedly and righteously as well.

The Profumo scandal told a story of stately homes, swimming pools and sex parties to a nation of two-up-two-downs, the never-never, and egg and chips for dinner.

Before Profumo, folk like my grandfather were expected to tip their cap every time they saw one of their ‘betters’ in a pinstripe suit; folk like my grandmother were meant to be grateful for jobs cleaning their homes.

Read more:

After Profumo, the average Brit was as likely to tell a lord to ‘f**k off’ as they were to say ‘yes, sir’.

The Profumo affair was mere gossip in the steamie, though, compared to the Epstein scandal. Profumo will be an interesting footnote in history books charting British politics in the 20th century; a moment of cultural inflection.

Epstein marks a sundering that will reshape the relationship between power and the people throughout the rest of the 21st century.

This dreadful story of the abuse of girls, power, wealth and influence will still be talked about centuries from now. There’s no equivalent scandal in modern history. The Dreyfuss Affair which rocked France to its foundations in the late 19th century doesn’t come close. Nor does Watergate.

Richard Nixon’s sins are nothing - simply meaningless - compared to stories of........

© Herald Scotland