Does the party response matter more than the abuse?
Could the fast Tory action put more pressure on Brown?
The expenses saga has taken a new turn with a leading Cameron aide being forced to resign – not as a result of stories in the press but because of the party’s new procedures for looking at what is going on.
It strikes me that this element is critically important as all the parties try to get ahead of the game and ensure that they come out of this with them being seen to be handling the crisis better than their opponents. At the end of the day, surely, it will be how party leaderships have handled the overall affair will matter more than the specific cases themselves.
The suggested abuse here where an MP couple were apparently maximising the overall amount of second home allowance being paid by each designated a different one always looked dodgy – and no doubt there are other Westminster couples in the same position.
For Cameron speed of action is everything particularly in view of the contrast with how Labour is handling all of this. He’s seen to be taking the initiative, and, of course, is commanding a lot of news coverage.
My understanding is that we’ll see several polls in the coming few days and the Tories might be hoping for an “expenses boost”.