Passage to India
Former Tory peer, pig farmer and leader of Essex County Council - Lord Hanningfield - was jailed the other day - for nine months - for fiddling his parliamentary expenses.
Good because the old crook had it coming - after denying all the charges he faced and wasting the court's time for all these months.
The only surprise is tha the didn't actually get much longer in the pokey - though apparently the judge took his advancing years and poor health into account.
The four Labour MPs sent to jail for fiddling their expenses - David Chaytor, Jim Devine, Eric Illsley and Elliot Morley - all received sentences of a year or more.
Lord Hanningfield, 70 - or plain old Paul White as he was tried in court - falsely claimed £13,379 for overnight stays in London when he was not actually in the capital.
Well to my mind - if you can do the crime, you can do the time.
So I wouldn't have been soft on his noble lordship - just because of his age or poor health.
Particularly as Lord Hanningfield has appealed his conviction - wasting even more court time and public money on his ridiculous 'defence' which amounted to - 'everybody was at it'.
For example, in relation to one of his overnight claims - his lordship was on a plane bound for India - while his expenses claim said he was actually staying the night in London.
Not an easy mistake to make - you have to admit.
The only really interesting point to emerge from Lord Hanningfield's trial - were his candid thoughts on the House of Lords.
Which he described as a 'club' - stating that most other peers turned up for only 10 minutes or so - to claim their daily allowance.
Good because the old crook had it coming - after denying all the charges he faced and wasting the court's time for all these months.
The only surprise is tha the didn't actually get much longer in the pokey - though apparently the judge took his advancing years and poor health into account.
The four Labour MPs sent to jail for fiddling their expenses - David Chaytor, Jim Devine, Eric Illsley and Elliot Morley - all received sentences of a year or more.
Lord Hanningfield, 70 - or plain old Paul White as he was tried in court - falsely claimed £13,379 for overnight stays in London when he was not actually in the capital.
Well to my mind - if you can do the crime, you can do the time.
So I wouldn't have been soft on his noble lordship - just because of his age or poor health.
Particularly as Lord Hanningfield has appealed his conviction - wasting even more court time and public money on his ridiculous 'defence' which amounted to - 'everybody was at it'.
For example, in relation to one of his overnight claims - his lordship was on a plane bound for India - while his expenses claim said he was actually staying the night in London.
Not an easy mistake to make - you have to admit.
The only really interesting point to emerge from Lord Hanningfield's trial - were his candid thoughts on the House of Lords.
Which he described as a 'club' - stating that most other peers turned up for only 10 minutes or so - to claim their daily allowance.
