So the Commons is ready to release details of some MPs' expenses requested under freedom of information rules. The main details are for the party leaders and a few others in 2003-04, detailing how much they spent on work-related travel, stationery, IT and under the "additional costs allowance" which basically allows them to maintain two homes or pay for overnight stays in London or their constituencies. (Sadly, although this includes food, MPs can't submit claims for alcohol, so we can't expect to learn much about Charlie's tab at Oddbins.)
Can you guess which party leaders submit the biggest expenses bills? Challenge your colleagues and friends to a gripping game of gravy train bingo. Simply print off the little bingo sheet below, scrawl in your best guesses, and compare it with the official numbers when they arrive. The nearest punt in each category wins a point.
To guide you, remember that the fact that Mrs Prescott "doesn't like having her hair blown about" goes under "Travel". (We say nothing about Prezza's attitude to "staffing", of course.)
Jonathan Sayeed, you will remember, is the Tory MP who was kicked out of the party after it became clear he was profiting from tours of the Commons sold to wealthy Americans. (The question being, of course, whether a bad Tory claims more on expenses than a good one.)
And under stationery, you might want to think about how much Tony Blair's office used to spend on correction fluid for use on unsatisfactory intelligence reports.
