Gary Gibbon
Sir Malcolm Rifkind resigns: why he decided to stand down
The key moment in Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s change of heart was the meeting with the chief whip on Monday.
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Gary Gibbon
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FactCheck Q&A: do we need Total Recall?
The government will give voters the power to terminate MPs who misbehave for the first time. But critics have called it a “stitch-up” and a “con”.
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Gary Gibbon
Maria Miller didn’t jump – she was discreetly pushed
The official version of events is that the prime minister was taken by surprise by Maria Miller’s resignation, but my sources tell me the decision was made to “get rid of her”.
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Gary Gibbon
Tory MP: Cameron stance on Ipsa ‘disgraceful’
Politicians are seething over plans by the independent authority which sets parliamentary salaries to recommend a 9 per cent rise for MPs.
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FactCheck: who runs the country?
Will we get a “parliament of toffs” if we refuse to pay MPs more? Or perhaps the rich already dominate the House of Commons… How much do we really know about the background of the people who represent us?
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FactCheck: Do we pay MPs too much?
Are British politicians badly paid compared to their European counterparts? FactCheck jumps on the gravy train…
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Jon Snow
Oh No Minister!
“We have long been told by rail experts, including the former train operators’ Chairman George Muir, that the franchising system doesn’t work anyway, and cannot.”
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Gary Gibbon
Ed M, Blairites and sofa hopping
“He was asked what in practical terms his promise to heal the north-south divide actually meant. He didn’t really know.”
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FactCheck: Casting an Eye over Westminster’s jailbirds
As another politician hears the clang of the prison gates, FactCheck looks at the Palace of Westminster’s soaring crime rate.
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Gary Gibbon
David Laws: the first Westminster victim of Thursday’s results
He’s the first Westminster victim of Thursday’s results. Trying to come back on the pitch just as a “friendly” turned into a bit of a grudge match.
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Jim Devine: the obvious question on MPs’ expenses
Krishnan Guru-Murthy remembers asking MP Jim Devine the obvious question on expenses, in an interview which was later used as evidence in court.
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Gary Gibbon
Cameron soothes backbench anger over IPSA
Our Political Editor reports on tonight’s meeting between the Prime Minister and his backbench MPs over the way the new expenses system – overseen by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority – works.
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Gary Gibbon
IPSA publishes 10 reports of alleged abuse by MPs
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has published 10 “incident reports” of MPs allegedly abusing its staff.
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Gary Gibbon
Brown snaps over expenses repayment claim
Expenses aren’t dominating today’s election but they have popped up twice. At Nick Clegg’s press conference the BBC’s Andrew Neil was suggesting Nick Clegg had overdone it on the furnishings at his second home. Nick Clegg invited Andrew Neil round to have a look around at his Sheffield pad and prove it wasn’t a palace.
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Gary Gibbon
“Hurt” MPs prepare to say farewell to the Commons
Gary Gibbon blogs on how MPs are expressing regrets, but few apologies as they prepare to retire from the Commons in the wake of the expenses scandal.