A plague on all your houses

The Telegraph investigation on MPs' expenses today focuses on the Conservative frontbench.

There are some similarly extravagant claims, in particular Alan Duncan's £500+ repair bill for his ride-on lawnmower. Iain Dale was first to spot an obvious lightbulb changing joke in the details of the report. (But the Spectator were quick to suggest - convincingly - that the accusation against Michael Gove of 'flipping' homes is unfair, and that this was a genuine change of personal circumstances).

The party leaders are now both trying to issue collective apologies, even if no individual MP appears to want to admit personal culpability. (The sole exception so far appears to be Cheryl Gillan MP, who says she is mortified about claiming £4.88 for dog food, presumably as part of a grocery bill).

Those MPs who have stayed not just "within the rules" but within the spirit of what the rules are intended for are not getting much of a look in as the public mood is 'a plague on all your houses'. The Telegraph does today highlight one case: that of left-wing Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins, whose extremely frugal claims are contrasted with those of fellow Luton MP Margaret Moran. (A number of frontbench MPs have also been briefly cited as having very straightforward and reasonable expense claims).

The 'drip, drip, drip' nature of the story probably means we won't hear much about most of the good 'uns until near the end.

Before then, there is probably much worse to come. Westminster rumours over the last couple of months have suggested the most egregious offenders might be found on the backbenchers: for example, it has been suggested at least one backbench MP (already standing down) had a conservatory built on the taxpayer. (While individual responsibility should be paramount, that would be among a number of claims to raise the systemic issue of why evidently absurd claims were not vetoed).

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