Plague on both your houses ...
Greetings from Cardiff, where the Daily Politics will this morning mark the 10th anniversary of , live from the Welsh assembly. But even over 100 miles down the M4 from Westminster, the sound of can clearly be heard.
Yesterday it was the Tories' turn to be embarrassed. Today they got both barrels and David Cameron's embarrassment has turned to anger. Class, never far below the surface in British politics, has now taken centre-stage.
Labour MPs use our money to pay for Kit-Kats, porn videos, pet food and patio heaters. But Tory grandees dip into the public purse to clean their -- as well as buying horse manure to fertilise their massive gardens. Some will find this even worse than Labour's profligacies -- after all, most of these Tory grandees are rolling in it and don't really need any help from the taxpayer to pay for anything.
Suddenly Mr Cameron's Tories don't quite look the modernising, 21st century political force he has tried to make them. And the expenses row is taking its toll on them, just as it has on Labour.
The latest poll puts the Tories on 39%, still miles ahead of Labour but down on the previous poll -- and in the current climate the opposition should be comfortable above 40%. So it's plague on both your houses and the are the temporary beneficiaries -- until the turns its attention to their expenses.
The unanswered question for me is the one I raised yesterday on the show: what is the clear way forward out of this morass?
Few will be placing much hope on, after yesterday's astonishing performance in the Commons.
Gordon Brown has tried and failed -- and now perhaps lacks the authority -- even the Guardian's on him to be deposed this morning.
David Cameron and Nick Clegg talk about reform -- but lack the power to do much about it. MPs clearly are never going to do it themselves. Which is why this story is set to run and run and run ...
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