The recent controversy over former Tory MP Derek Conway raises a number of very interesting questions. For instance, why is it that the Tories continued to back Conway, even though they were fully aware of his controversial allowances claiming, until it was clear that the media were “going to have him for breakfast”? Additionally, why is it that Labour have not been trampling all over the Tories in The House - if for no other reason than to divert attention away from their Party’s various money-related embarrassments?.

The answer to the first question is crystal clear. The Tories allowed Conway to be “hung out to dry” because they feared media interest in his activities could have spread to a great many others, including more prominent Tory MPs – particularly those claiming huge amounts of Additional Claims Allowance (ACA), for no apparently good reason other than to bankroll personal property investment activities in London. This, in turn, partly answers the second question. The reason why Labour MPs have not trampled the Tories into the dust over the Conway affair is simply because so many of them are doing exactly the same thing - claiming ACA – without just cause! And, like many a Tory, they are equally desperate to conceal their activities from the public, knowing that they simply cannot reasonably justify their ACA claiming!.

The claiming of ACA under such circumstances is not, of course, illegal – but MPs know that it would be perceived as immoral and acutely embarrassing to boot, by the public at large. Hence their determination to keep the detail of what many regard to be a multi-million pound scam secret. No wonder then that the Lib-Lab-Cons don’t want to see an escalation of media interest but do want to see a quick burying of the Conway affair. It simply would not be good for the “reputation” (such as it is) of The House that details of what many consider to be the institutional abuse of Parliamentary privilege, should become public! Parliamentary expediency not only explains why Derek Conway has, in many eyes, been “let off” so lightly by the House of Commons authorities but also the indecent haste demonstrated by fellow Honourable Members in seeking to bury this revealing episode!.

To illustrate the point somewhat, the following are quotations taken from a BBC report that may be read, in full: here . .

Quote: Sir George hit back at criticisms that the Commons authorities had not come down hard enough on Mr Conway, saying judgements “can have serious and far reaching consequences for those who breach the rules”. He said the committee had decided not to report Mr Conway’s actions to the police and the question of whether MPs should be allowed to employ family members was a “debate for another day”. Unquote. .

Quote: Theresa May said Mr Conway’s suspension was needed in order to protect the reputation of the Commons. Labour former minister Frank Field said he thought there should be stronger sanctions and said it was “difficult to think how much lower our collective reputation might sink” in the eyes of the public. Unquote. .

Quote: Later Mr Harvey, who sits on the Commons Commission, told the BBC that a regular “spot check” would help uncover “bogus arrangements” and said if MPs were to publicly register any relatives working for them, it could offer “reassurance”. However he said a total ban on children or spouses working for MPs was “not a runner” - nor was publishing the pay of people on “pretty modest incomes”. He said most relatives working for MPs were “generally people of very high calibre” who worked very long hours and “actually the taxpayer gets thumping good value from them”. Unquote. .

With apologies to Sir Winston Churchill: Never in the history of The House has so much money been so dubiously claimed from so many by so few!

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