Complete and Utter Zebu

“Paying up is almost an admission that you’ve done something wrong. Most people aren’t going to write a cheque if you don’t believe you’ve done wrong.” – Geraldine Smith, Labour.

“He [Sir Thomas Legg] has introduced new rules retrospectively, he has introduced caps retrospectively and that is against fairness and the rules of natural justice.” Sir Stuart Bell, Labour.

“If any other employer did this, he would be up before a tribunal.” Ann Widdecombe, Conservative.

If this happened in the real world, the consequences would be far greater than the miscreants being asked to pay money back.

As The Daily Telegraph says today, MPs can only claim, according to The Green Book, for costs “wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred… for the purposes of performing your parliamentary duties.”

They suggest that the people to decide whether this has been the case are HM Revenue and Customs, the ultimate arbiter for the rest of us.

It won’t happen of course. What will no doubt happen is that, like every other former Home Secretary before her, Jacqui Smith will end up in the House of Lords, looking even smugger than she does now.