Quis custodiet . . .

. . . ipsos custodes? Who oversees the overseers? Flawed though it is, the Freedom of Information Act is steadily exposing the cosy corruption of the British establishment. It will come as no surprise that the concept of self-regulation is having the last tatters of credibility torn from it.

The quango set up to ensure value for money at the BBC has spent £3.2 million setting itself up in plush new offices.

The Association of Chief Police Officers has spent £1.6 million intended for counter-terrorism on luxury accommodation for its members.

The next hurdle is getting the elected swine to get their own noses out of the trough long enough to impose meaningful spending limits and sanctions for abuse of authority on the Apparat. Not in my lifetime, I fear.