Gordon Brown in cover-up tricks scandal!

Gordon Brown must have lost a couple of marbles in the reshuffle process. He's been gulping on about transparency, yet he now steadfastly refuses to release the report into the expense pot that minister Shahid Malik was dipping into. Tahir Zaman is a property landlord who claims he rented Malik property at below the market rate. So the basic accusation against Malik is that he claimed full whack whilst just paying Mr. Zaman a near-peppercorn rent. It also seems that Mr. Zaman may unwittingly be a target of the Downing Street Smear Machine.

So instead of transparency we get a prime minister who is top of his game, not as prime minister, but as a cheap cover-up conman. He wants to suppress the report of Sir Philip Mawer. A spokesman for Gordon Brown said, "It is not our intention to publish the report. It goes into quite a lot of detail about Mr Malik's personal affairs. It would not be appropriate to publish."

Not appropriate? What planet are these morons on? In the midst of a scandal over how some MPs enriched themselves and made a mockery of the system, the Downing Street bunker resorts to cover-ups and secrecy. Is this what Labour MPs were told on Monday night when they crammed into that committee room? "Don't worry," says the hapless Brown, in some mea culpa moment. "It's all back to cover-ups and cosy deals tomorrow!"

Norman Baker, a Liberal Democrat MP and freedom of information campaigner, has said, "Gordon Brown has fallen at the first fence on the transparency course. If Mr Malik has been cleared as we are told, why not publish the report?" Why not indeed!

Malik steps down

Although he put up a vigorous defence of his position, Shahid Malik has stepped down as Justice minister. He hasn't resigned, but is awaiting his name being cleared. The allegations made by the Daily Telegraph are detailed. Mr Malik says he stuck "a million per cent by the rules" and said some of the paper's claims were a "fabrication". And he called for the "bloodfest" of media coverage of expenses to stop.

It appears that Mr Malik has taken some favourable interpretation of the rules. I do wish he had thought a bit more about the television. He's just given the BNP another club to batter him with!

Malik milking the system!

Fancy a home cinema system courtesy of the taxpayer? Well, you can get half the cost of one if you are an MP and go to the Fees Office to tell them you need it for helping your constituents get out of the economic mess they're in!

Shahid Malik is a complete fool. He represents Dewsbury, a town where the BNP is targeting him and the Labour vote. Did he think for one minute that his dodgy claims for lavish living would remain a secret for ever? His antics have just given them the finest ammunition they could have wished for. Is he a political masochist?

And he's another MP in trouble with his local council. He had claimed £65 for a court summons for not paying council tax. But his main mistake was getting mixed up with a slum landlord and making sure he milked the second home allowance for all it was worth.

The Daily Telegraph has done a good job in exposing this sorry tale of spin and corruption.