Same old same old

So, Keith Vaz is to remain Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, despite frequent and seemingly well-substantiated allegations of influence-peddling and claiming for a second home even though his (sometimes, depending on expenses maximisation) main residence is 12 miles from Westminster on the Jubilee line.

Meanwhile Michael Fallon, previously deputy chair of the Treasury Select Committee and who, among other accounting lapses, does not require a receipt from an alleged cleaner (for whom his claim of £300 a month was quickly reduced to a no-receipts required £250), has the backing of the other members of the committee. No surprise there, given what a truly exceptional accounting job they have all done over the past five years.

Fallon does at least face a challenge from Andrew Tyrie, one of the Mr Cleans of the sordid expenses saga. No chance, I would think. The swine are most unlikely to vote for someone who practices what he preaches.