I agreed entirely with David Cameron when he asked "where's the Government?" after it emerged that our elected representatives had chosen, once again, to put their own interests before the wider electorate.

Quite a few Ministers were voting to keep their perks – including Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. Housing Minister Caroline Flint, and Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, were among 16 Yorkshire MPs who chose to defy wisdom, while Margaret Beckett, the former Foreign Secretary, probably intends to refurnish her caravan after backing this self-indulgence.

Gordon Brown, I am told, would have attended the vote if there was any likelihood of the additional cost allowance – the so-called "John Lewis" list – being abolished. So much for leadership and decisiveness.

But, rather than Mr Brown now promise to think again, why don't the 500-odd MPs who did not support this measure, either by voting against it or through non-attendance in the Commons, simply agree not to submit any more claims for new dishwashers, cookers and, in Mr Brown's case, a Sky dish.

If they had the courage to set such an example, and then made a virtue of it from an electoral perspective, they might just shame their colleagues into thinking again.

But, then again, there are, I suppose, some politicians who are so selfish that they will never change their
ways.


DESPITE Housing Minister Caroline Flint's misplaced optimism, I cannot see many people wanting to buy a house in one of the Don Valley MP's new-fangled eco-towns when the property will not even be allocated a parking space.

Who, in their right mind, will want to live in the middle of the countryside without a car – especially given the haphazard nature of public transport in the shires?

Yet, according to the new planning guidance being issued by Ms
Flint's office, that is one of the criteria that will be attached to some schemes.

However, people might just be able to survive without a car if an eco-town was built on one of the two large brownfield sites on the outskirts of York which Hugh Bayley, the city's MP, says are ripe for development – and could accommodate 5,000 badly-needed houses.

Regrettably, this will not happen, according to Mr Bayley, because the sites in question fall within an existing urban area – and, therefore, fall foul of the eco-town rules.



SHOULD the unmissed former health secretary, one Patricia Hewitt, have declared an interest when she responded to Harriet Harman's political correctness Bill in the Commons?

Ex-chief nanny Hewitt described the measures as "a major landmark in the long march to equality" before calling on the EU "to get early agreement on proposals for a European framework directive on equality, which will set minimum standards for all European citizens, across the European Union".

Given that this failed busybody reputedly wants to replace Peter Mandelson as an EU Commissioner, I assume that she wants this law approved tout de suite – because she knows that she will not land the job on merit and will need every assistance possible.



THERE was no sense of irony lost on David Davis as he opened a letter during his "civil liberties" by-election crusade in Haltemprice and Howden to discover that he is to be the subject of a random tax audit by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

"And guess how long they have given me to send in my papers?" revealed the former Shadow Home Secretary on his blog after he resigned over laws that will detain terror suspects for 42 days.

"Yep, 42 days!"



TALKING of the by-election, some have suggested that the reason Gordon Brown is not fielding a "Labour" candidate is because he does not want his party to be beaten by the likes of Miss Great Britain after trailing home in fifth place in Henley.

But the Tories should not become too cocksure over their recent
by-election successes. They finished a distant fourth at Glasgow East in 2005 and could easily be overhauled by the Scottish Socialist Party, and others, in the forthcoming contest north of the border.

Given how David Cameron says he speaks for the whole of Britain, and has a seemingly unassailable poll lead, the Conservatives need a good showing in Glasgow to reinforce their recent progress. In other words, the Tories' objective must be to keep their deposit – unlike Labour in Henley.



IF Arlo White's cricket commentaries were not sufficient torture for Test Match Special devotees, other parts of the BBC's sport output are becoming equally infuriating.

Even though Andy Murray was interviewed live on Richard Bacon's late-night Five Live radio programme after his epic comeback win at Wimbledon, the presenter appeared more preoccupied whether the tennis star regarded himself as "Scottish"
or "British".

And, second, a discussion about great football commentators – prompted by John Motson's retirement at Euro 2008 – did not even see the late, great Peter Jones mentioned on the Corporation's initial shortlist.

One only has to listen to the heart-rending essay that Jones delivered live, and unscripted, on Sports Report following the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, to realise the extent to which standards have declined in recent times.

That is the benchmark to which all of today's sports broadcasters (paid for by the taxpayer) should aspire. Sadly, they do not.



WAS there any connection between Andy Murray's demise at Wimbledon and the good luck message that he had received from Gordon Brown before the tennis star's match with Rafael Nadal?

Discuss.