Phil Woolas – a snivelling little sh*t

Why has more not been made of Phil Woolas’ conduct over the whole expenses affair. Personally I believe that the public’s furore should be directed at those MP’s who have sought to gain significant benefit from the system, primarily those who have flipped their second home designation for no other reason than to claim public funds for expenditure the rest of us would have to stump up ourselves (n.b. I do believe some instances were genuine).

The instances of MPs making claims for small amounts on absurd items, I think, are far less concerning. The might make some look a bit silly, but do we really believe that they were anything more than that – considered and comprehensive campaigns to diddle the tax payer £3.50 a time? No, rather they are evidence of the gung-ho attitude to public money some have, and nothing more.

I initially would have placed Woolas’ misdemeanours in this category – mildly embarrassing but ultimately trivial. But he has reacted appallingly. Firstly, he threatened to sue the Telegraph for insinuating he had claimed for a couple of small items (nail varnish and tampons, presumably for his wife) which, while ineligible for a claim, amounted to very little. He said the Telegraph was wrong, “disgusting” and threatened legal action, sounding appropriately indignant. The Telegraph, however, showed that there was extremely strong (albeit circumstantial) evidence that their story was correct. Namely that the receipt on which the said items were contained came to exactly the same amount as one of the sums he received - £210.31. Hence it seems pretty likely he was reimbursed in full for that claim, tampons and all. His response? “The claim is one document and the receipts are another. The fact that they both add up to the same amount doesn't prove anything. It doesn't mean that the fees office paid for the non-food items on the receipt.”

I don’t really like being so brazenly taken for an idiot by a Government Minister. Mr Woolas, you’ve been remarkably silent since your initial outburst. I await the proceedings against the Telegraph with interest…