Now that multiple accusations of rape and other serious sexual offences have been made against Harvey Weinstein, everyone agrees that what happened is terrible, that lessons must be learned, and that it must never happen again.

A few weeks ago, when Grenfell Tower burned down in London, with the loss of dozens of lives, everyone agreed that it was terrible, that lessons must be learned, and that it must never happen again.

When it turned out that British journalists had been hacking phones on a grand scale, including the phone of a dead schoolgirl, everyone agreed that it was terrible, that lessons must be learned, and that it must never happen again.

When it became clear that Jimmy Savile had been a prolific sexual abuser, everyone agreed that it was terrible, that lessons must be learned, and that it must never happen again.

When the banking system collapsed in 2008, causing immense damage to the wider economy, everyone agreed that it was terrible, that lessons must be learned, and that it must never happen again.

It seems to me that the lesson from all these things, and more, is clear. When people are in a position of power, sometimes they will abuse that power. And because they are in a position of power, they will probably get away with it.

This will happen again. People in a position of power are the ones who make the rules, and it doesn’t seem likely that they will change the rules to make it easier to hold powerful people to account.

I suppose it could happen, in a democracy such as the UK, if voters insist that their politicians prioritise holding the powerful to account. Sadly, I can’t see that happening. Most people prioritise other things when they go to the ballot box.

So unless that changes, all these things, and similar, will happen again.