Listening to the LibDem apologist for the government on this morning’s ‘Today’ programme was fascinating so much for what was not said. Harrumphreys did his usual chattus interruptus and pursued one particular line of attack. This was about the inevitable divorce of the coalition partners in the run up to the next election. The mouthpiece did his best to push his oft-repeated message that, thanks to the coalition - and the noble Liberal Democlots in particular - the country had been saved from a fate worse than death.
His arguments were more than somewhat undermined as the mouthpiece was none other than David Laws. The man who had fiddled his expenses to the tune of over £50,000. He had resigned from the newly-formed Cabinet after 17 days and had to apologise to the House of Commons. Wow.
After spending two years on the backbenches he has been returned to Cabinet. He even had the gall to mention that there would be further cuts on the way but scrupulously avoided any mention of cheats, skivers or fiddlers. Fancy that.
Any common oik caught fiddling their benefits to the tune of £50k would not have been treated so leniently. Even his own father says Laws should have gone to jail.
There was also no mention - either from Harrumphreys or Laws - of tax evasion and avoidance. The one area of our society in most need of urgent reform, and the one area the government, with the collusion of much of the media, have done very little about.
The BBC, for example, squirming over their mis-handling of the Saville affair, are more than a little anxious about the cosy little deals they struck with their star performers to pay less tax.
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