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More to come?

Andrew Neil | 09:57 UK time, Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Perhaps it's because we're now inured to MPs' excesses with our money but this morning's list of doesn't quite shock the way previous revelations have done. Yes, Ming Campbell claimed £10,000 to pay for hiring a mate to renovate his London pad -- but by now we think this just par for the course.

The newspapers agree. For the first time, instead of ripping off the Telegraph's revelations about the Lib Dems, they concentrate on to yesterday's expose of the expenses of his party's country-squire living grandees.

cameronexpenses.jpgThe Tory leader gets good marks, even in the left-leaning press, but of course it is all damage limitation: the revelations of what millionaire Tories think they can charge to the public purse has clearly damaged Mr Cameron's efforts to re-brand the Tories as modern, progressive and in touch with ordinary folks' concerns.

But his response is favourably compared with Gordon Brown's, who is attacked for making his bizarre YouTube intervention then retreating to "business-as-usual" mode.

The Prime Minister is under pressure to get rid of, who is currently in guerrilla war with many backbenchers over his handling of the expenses' crisis. But the Speaker is unlikely to go without the Brown push and it remains to be seen if the PM will help to oust his old Scottish Labour colleague.

Meanwhile real life goes on: by a record quarter of a million to 2.2m and the by a mere 7p. Not much solace there for ministers. Perhaps it's just as well all our eyes are on expenses. Or maybe not: if you think the expenses row has past its peak, think again. I understand some of the biggest revelations involving ministers have yet to come -- but they will come very soon, perhaps tomorrow?

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