OLYMPIC JUNKET

The British team in Beijing is just over 300 athletes. A figure dwarfed by those who are tagging along for the ride. The BBC are sending over 430 staff at a cost to the taxpayer of around £3 million. The London Development Agency are sending only 13 but again the cost is given as £3 million apparently because they have hired a private members club in the city for the duration. Then there are various government and local government contingents. And two police forces although I'm not clear why Dorset need an input; and the Met must have plenty of crimes to solve at home. I expect they'll all have a wonderful time.

MEPs

Yesterday the Sunday press reported that the EU allowances of yet another Tory MEP are being queried. Den Dover may have channeled allowances of up to £750,000 into the family firm MP Holdings which he used as "paying agent" and "service provider". A report in the Sunday Times deals mostly with the purchase of two cars but I would be interested to see where the rest went.

GRAVY TRAIN FOR MEPs

MEPs seem to make good use of their expense allowances and it seems that David Cameron is a little concerned about what might emerge. He wants the 28 Conservative MEPs to come clean but almost half of them are resisting (Daily Telegraph 9th June). Today the same paper reveals that a Labour MEP paid his boyfriend £8000 per month in 2002. He now pays £30,000 annually to the man personally but it is unclear what happens to the remainder of the allowance. Since 1999 he has claimed over £760,000 and it is believed that it was given to his boyfriend, now civil partner, to administrate. Scumbags.