I would expect that all PR people would agree that truth is absolutely fundamental to our profession. And never more so than in crisis communications.

So why did self-proclaimed crisis communications media expert John Stonborough tell PR Week that he had "decided against renewing his media relations contract" with the House of Commons? What on earth possessed him to say he "wished to leave on a high, having handled PR for the first ever publication of MPs allowances, a story that was splashed across the front pages last month"?

Why didn't Stonborough realise that in a crisis the truth will usually come out, so it is much better to be honest up front?

Thanks to Recess Monkey for tipping me off about this story in The Times.

I would have thought that this would have a serious negative impact on Stonborough's business and career. If the allegations are true then I really can't imagine reputable companies such as Shell, Clifford Chance,  Provident Financial and Asda wanting to risk their reputation and confidential company data.

His error is not so much how he has handled his own crisis communications badly but that he appears to have deliberately not acted in the best interests of his clients and betrayed client confidentiality by leaking information for party political purposess.

This could be deeply damaging to the PR profession. Especially so since Stonborough is not just a member, but a Fellow of the Institute of Public Relations. I await developments with interest.