Hidden expenses

Nick Robinson’s post yesterday afternoon on the continuing saga of MPs’ expenses mentioned that the Commons’ authorities had a change of mind following further legal advice. He had more to say later on the BBC Ten O’clock News. Although Nick Robinson’s report is not on the BBC website (but see Bid to block expenses questioned for the full story), probably as it delivered live to camera, he said that whereas it was unlikely that any MP would be found to have broken the law, some might feel they had no option but to go (whether at the next General Election or sooner he did not make clear) because they would be so embarrassed at the revelations about what they had spent our money on. Nick Robinson said he had been told this by a number of senior politicians.

Going back to the legal grounds for the appeal, these, according to Nick Robinson, are the security of MPs and their legitimate expectation that their information be kept secret. I rather like David Winnick’s comments at PMQs (which prompted the Speaker to intervene). According to the BBC, Winnick said if (the appeal) was just about publishing addresses “that would be perfectly understandable on grounds of security”, but if it was against the wider issue of publishing second home expenses, “it should be noted that some members, certainly myself, are very much opposed to the appeal being lodged”. He went on to say it was “unfortunate” MPs had not been given a vote on the matter. At this stage the Speaker intervened, saying the matter was sub judice (undoubtedly correct but why do I get the feeling that he was pleased about this?).

A Monty Python moment

An interesting historical take on Radio 3 Breakfast this morning when Rob Cowan introduced Beethoven’s Egmont Overture: apparently Egmont was fighting the Spanish Inquisition. Strange that, I had always thought that it was the treacherous Duke of Alba. But then nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Gordon expects. . .

Has Gordon Brown done enough? An interesting post in Coffee House by Peter Hoskin

And so Gordon Brown has backed-down over the Embryology Bill. Now he won’t be forcing Labour MPs to vote in favour of the Bill outright – instead, they’ll get a free vote on three of its particularly controversial parts. Andrew Porter gets it spot-on over at Three Line Whip – it’s a great shame that Brown ignored the wishes of so many in his party for so long, only to buckle as soon as it looked like there’d be a wholesale rebellion. In this light, I doubt too many Labour MPs will be that grateful to Brown, even if the outcome was the one they wanted. Once again, our Prime Minister has been damaged by his own dithering.

It is percentage politics, with a reckoning at the end. And what does he expect? From the BBC News website (and hoping he has done his maths properly),

But the prime minister expects all Labour MPs to back the whole bill when it comes to the final Commons vote.

Bringing home the bacon

A postscript to my post yesterday on Balkan porkies. On the BBC News website this evening, a report about Hillary being pressed on her Bosnia claim, plus the video of her arriving in Bosnia. The camera never lies (unlike Clinton it seems)

Video shown on US TV network CBS shows the then First Lady walking calmly from her plane. Her campaign has said she “misspoke” about landing under fire. Aides to Barack Obama, her rival to be the party’s presidential nominee, argue she overstates her foreign experience.

What astonishes me is that she is prepared to go to the lengths she has, surely knowing that every statement will be subjected to the minutest scrutiny. And what exactly does “misspeak” mean? A facility for telling porkies clearly runs in the Clinton family.

Balkan porkies

An interesting post in The Full Feed from Huffingtonpost.com about Hillary Clinton and the danger she said she had found herself in in Bosnia. Well, it now appears that she “misspoke” about the immediate dangers she faced. A more accurate word might have been “lied”. Here goes,

An aide to Senator Hillary Clinton acknowledged on Monday that the New York Senator “misspoke” about the immediate dangers she faced when, as first lady, she visited war torn Bosnia. Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s chief spokesperson, said on a conference call that “it is possible in the most recent instance with which she discussed this that she misspoke, with regards to the leaving of the plane.” Later, he was more certain: “On one occasion, she misspoke.” But Wolfson insisted that the first lady’s visit was indeed perilous, as supported by “contemporaneous accounts” in the press.

In recent weeks, Senator Clinton has sought to bolster her national security and foreign policy credentials by highlighting the role she played in Bosnia. “We came in under sniper fire,” she recently told the press. “There was no greeting ceremony. We ran with our heads down, and were basically told to run to our cars.”

This is what Team Obama reported

Bosnia:

Senator Clinton has pointed to a March 1996 trip to Bosnia as proof that her foreign travel involved a life-risking mission into a war zone. She has described dodging sniper fire. While she did travel to Bosnia in March 1996, the visit was not a high-stakes mission to a war zone. On March 26, 1996, the New York Times reported that “Hillary Rodham Clinton charmed American troops at a U.S.O. show here, but it didn’t hurt that the singer Sheryl Crow and the comedian Sinbad were also on the stage.”

And Mary Ann Akers (aka the Sleuth) in the Washington Post had an equally telling post Sinbad unloads on Hillary Clinton in Washingtonpost.com. (this was before Howard Wolfson fessed up on the candidate’s behalf to the Balkan porkies). According to the actor, the “scariest” part of the trip was wondering where he’d eat next. “I think the only ‘red-phone’ moment was: ‘Do we eat here or at the next place.'” I would have thought wondering what Hillary would do or say next was probably a close second.