Sometimes, against all expectations, the House of Commons gets it right.

At the beginning of this week it won a motion by just one vote which suggested that MPs accused of sexual or violent misconduct should be shown the door when arrested, not just when charged.

It was a victory for cross-party co-operation, as well as for the countless victims who watch dodgy MPs basically get away with all manner of dodgy behaviour because, as it stood, they could not be excluded from Parliament.

The official, defeated, proposal gave weasel words a bad name. It suggested waiting till the accused was actually charged, which, sadly, happens in the tiniest minority of cases, and that the alleged miscreant would have his alleged deeds assessed by a panel appointed by the Speaker, which group would then decide on the level of punishment.

This was not so much 'kicking the can down the road' as 'belting it over the rooftops'. Real women, in the real world, know that there are myriad chances of being sexually harassed or worse at work.

Just this week a young Navy woman talked of her suicidal thoughts after being raped by a senior officer - not at the local base, but at an officers' mess in England. No charges were brought.

Real women, in the real world, know that their own chances of a successful rape verdict are minimalist at best, even if they choose to hang on for ever for a case to come to court. And then a courtroom appearance where, too often, they suddenly morph from being the victim to being no better than they should be.

Burt the House of Commons is far from being the real world. It has a large number of men who think that their standing as MPs is an open invitation to behave badly towards junior staff and/or their partners.

So good on the women from all sides of the House who stood their ground and won a famous victory. Good on the whips who made this exercise a free vote, allowing female MPs and some of their male colleagues to vote with their conscience.

It would be naïve to suppose that this one vote will suddenly change what too often has been a deeply misogynistic culture in the mother of parliaments. But it’s a healthy start.

And it sends a signal to all would be naughty boys in the House that one strike, one arrest, and they’ll get their jotters. Not before time, either. Sometimes the Commons gets it right.