time to find a lawyer

Frankly the Parliamentary Ombudsmans office - lovely as they were on the phone - weren't much cop. They can only investigate MPs if a committee comprising of MPs asks them to - so much for independence. And recommending that we contact Tony Blair to complain about some of his MPs being economical with the truth just isn't gonna cut the mustard.

In the meantime we'll take a look at this Sir Philip Mawer, Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards . His office is wholly funded by the House of Commons, so I suspect any teeth he's got are gonna be false.

I'm starting to get the feeling this whole business of self-regulation isn't quite what it seems. We'll have to check out the Citizens Advice Bureau's second suggestion and find a lawyer - though I can't believe the government would leave themselves open to prosecution in a court of law. They're too slippery, too wily. An independently-minded judge can be a dangerous thing.