Editor-At-Large: Women are rarely welcome in the police chaps' club

Machismo is still the norm in the force, as Michael Todd's case shows. Even in trouble, he was still 'one of the boys'

The Chief Constable of Manchester, Michael Todd, was found dead near the summit of Snowdon last week, face-down and reeking of gin. He'd climbed the mountain in appalling weather, sending a series of increasingly frantic text messages to his family and colleagues.

A tragic story or a self-inflicted act of desperation? In the police force there are two sets of rules – one for insiders and another for those who are seen by the establishment as not "fitting in". Any senior police officer who is seen as a threat to tradition finds himself the centre of media speculation and innuendo. Like Sir Ian Blair and Brian Paddick.

Paddick resigned after the media focused on his homosexual lifestyle. Afterwards he claimed he was sidelined for meaningful promotion and left the force. He is currently the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London. Blair has had to rely on the support of Ken Livingstone in his fight to stay in charge of the Met in the aftermath of the De Menezes shooting – his critics accuse him of being "too cerebral" and "obsessed with political correctness".

How interesting then, that Todd, the copper in charge of the second most important city in the country, tipped to succeed Blair at the Met, should have been able to indulge in a number of extramarital affairs and allegedly suffer from depression with no criticism from his peers and no media leaks about his relationships.

Since his death, we've discovered there wasn't just one happy family in 50-year-old Todd's busy life. For three years he'd had an affair with Angie Robinson, the married chief executive of Manchester's Chamber of Commerce. Their relationship ended a year ago. Her husband John is reported to have cancer.

Mrs Todd has released a statement claiming the last time she spoke to her husband he told her he loved her, but we discover Todd had previously had an affair with another police officer in London, and did some serious flirting with a former model who joined the local police, as well as with newspaper journalist Andrea Perry. There are even stories alleging that he fathered a child with another woman.

Why should we care about what senior police officers do in their private lives? Todd's bonking passed without comment because he was the kind of guy the establishment feel comfortable with. And that is why, after all these years there are hardly any women at the top.

In 1990, Alison Halford was the most senior female police officer in England and Wales. In 1983, she became assistant chief constable in Merseyside, the first woman ever to do so. She unsuccessfully applied to be deputy chief constable and failed nine times to be promoted. Eventually, she brought a case alleging sexual discrimination, naming her boss and the Home Secretary.

As if that wasn't traumatic enough – can you imagine what happened next? She was suspended on charges of neglect of duty and discreditable conduct, said to have jumped in a pool at a party in her underwear and been drunk on duty. A local councillor alleged she was a lesbian "who should not be a senior police officer". Her boss kept a file on her private life. She eventually settled the sexual discrimination case and (not surprisingly) retired. The disciplinary hearing was then dropped. Halford later won a European Court case over her office phone being tapped.

Halford's ghastly story shows how little has changed in the mindset of the police. Todd led two lives, one in a flat in Manchester during the week and another at the family home at weekends, and no one minded, kept a file on him, noticed he was depressed, or thought his behaviour anything other than acceptable. What would have happened if the dead chief of Manchester's police force had been gay or female? The chances of that are still virtually zero. If you're a senior copper, macho is the norm, even in 2008 – almost 20 years after Alison Halford dared to jump in a pool in her bra and pants.

Well, you certainly got coverage of a sort, Ms Flint

One Cabinet minister does her damnedest to make the headlines, the other is a shrinking violet when it comes to owning up to embarrassing statistics.

On Tuesday Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Schools, undertook a spot of cunning news management when his department revealed that it had done a survey and found many secondary schools were still refusing to conform to new rules about admissions.

It was claimed that many faith schools in England were illegally charging parents and requesting standing orders from their banks if their children were selected for places.

The story was widely followed up across the media. On the same day, buried as a footnote in many reports, it emerged that almost a fifth of all children couldn't actually get into the secondary schools of their choice last September.

The next day, the Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, turned up for work in an outfit that would have looked a lot more appropriate behind the bar at my local branch of Wetherspoons. With her chunky legs peeking out from a tight skirt – split up to the upper thigh – topped with a non-matching coat and jacket, she committed a fashion crime of the highest order.

It did, however, guarantee, that she got in the press, without having to say a word.

London still swings – in spite of politicians

Ruth Kelly has announced that Heathrow's new terminal is absolutely fantastic for London's economy. Well, that makes it all right, then.

I love the fantasy that an airport terminal used by just one airline makes London a world-class city, when all it really does is increase pollution and offer more flights across the Atlantic.

A recent poll among travellers finds that London is the dirtiest and most expensive city in Europe, but top for nightlife and public parks. Hotel rates are among the five most expensive anywhere – but that has not deterred tourism.

Meanwhile, our Prime Minister is worried that new tax initiatives might scare off London's wealthiest – the non-doms, who donate millions to charities. Ruth Kelly is always on-message, promoting the idea that to be world class, London needs more airports, the Olympics and millionaires.

The battle to be mayor starts on Tuesday. Before Ken was elected, Labour dropped hints he would scare off the rich and Frankfurt would become the financial capital of Europe. It hasn't happened – London is still the most vibrant city on the planet precisely because of the dirt, the melting pot of tribes, the diversity of entertainment and communities where very rich and very poor live side by side. Taxes, on non-doms or gas-guzzling cars, won't make the slightest bit of difference.