Peter Mandelson grew accustomed, over the past four years, to the laissez faire rules of the European commission when it came to registering financial "interests" and entertainment (including yachting holidays).
But when he gets round to listing his interests in the House of Lords (he has a month to do so from October 13 when the form was sent out to him) everything will be different. I have just been flicking through a document called Standards of Conduct in the House of Lords, which makes chilling reading.
In chapter 7, headed "Compliance", it notes that the House of Lords "retains the power to imprison indefinitely". It doesn't elaborate. But it's menacing stuff. If ever there was an incentive for sleepy opposition peers (and indeed those Labour ones who aren't Mandy fans) to do a little investigative work, this, surely, must be it.
