If the story were true, it would be the biggest political story not only since Leung Chun-ying became chief executive, but the worst government scandal since the handover. It's the kind of story that could bring down a government.

So why are our city's ace reporters not chasing it, rather than pursuing a related but inconsequential story about Leung refusing to attend Standard Chartered's popular annual marathon? Frankly, who gives a damn whether he goes or not? But every pan-democratic media outlet has the same conspiracy theory about it this week. Repeat it often enough, it becomes a fact.

It is that the British bank didn't play ball, at least initially, when it was pressured to pull ads from Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's . At least that was what the and claimed; other banks they named included HSBC and the Bank of East Asia. Several pan-democrats then duly repeated the same allegation in the Legislative Council and demanded to know if that was why Leung has refused to attend the marathon. The even wrote an editorial leader about direct pressure on the banks, except it named only HSBC and BEA, citing Lai's right-hand man Mark Simon as its highly reliable source.