The never-ending car crash that is MPs expenses

I said at the beginning of the series of articles in the Daily Telegraph that partisan point-scoring might well prove to have the same efficacy as a boomerang with serrated edges, likely to do much damage to one's own side.

And indeed, there has been comparatively little criticism from within the Westminster village. After all, why criticise when you might be next, especially given some of the charges that have been made (Alan Reid, for heaven's sake, what were the Telegraph thinking of...)? The public have, not unreasonably, taken a very dim view of the emerging details of apparent fraud and misdemeanor.

As usual, however, there is a more complex picture emerging. Most of the charges have been acknowledged, albeit grudgingly in some cases. However, some charges have been strongly disputed, Andrew George, for example, and some probably merit an apology - would the Telegraph journalist who wrote the piece on Alan Reid like to do so personally by letter to each of Alan's constituents for blackening his reputation (the reference to the female assistant travelling with him was gratutious and malicious in my view)?

The question of proportionality has been rather dubious too. It has to be said that the column inches dedicated to Vince Cable and Norman Baker smacked of over-compensation in pursuit of equality of mistreatment. Is a claim for a £119 trouser press, for example, even remotely comparable to changing your designated second residence repeatedly?

That said, there is a feeling abroad in the country that MPs are crooks and frauds, not helped by the Telegraph's focus on the wrongdoers and not the honest majority. The atmosphere on 'Question Time' this evening was akin to a lynch mob, something that made me fear for our democracy, certainly in the short term. I actually thought that Ming rallied well after a shaky opening, and managed to get some reasonable applause for his later answers. Margaret Beckett was pretty robust, although she was always on a hiding to nothing as the representative of the Government. Theresa May mouthed the right platitudes but didn't look comfortable, not unreasonably given the simmering sense of anger in the audience in front of her.

This evening's opinion poll may well be the sign of things to come. If the European Elections end up as per the polling figures (Conservatives 28%, Labour 22%, Liberal Democrats 19%, UKIP 19%, BNP 4%), a party with more than its fair share of crooks (yes, I do mean UKIP), will benefit. I trust that the Telegraph will be taking a close look at some of their MEP's prior to 4 June...

However, it seems that we are far from the end of the drama. Married couples are supposedly to come, and I suspect we may have a few questions about family employees before this is over. It's going to get worse before it gets better, I fear...