image (c) Alex Folkes/Fishnik.com and republished here under the terms of the creative commons licence on Flickr.com

A small sigh of relief is audible in some Lib Dem circles as the Telegraph spotlight turns to the serried ranks of Lib Dem MPs.

So far, the scale of dubious claims by our MPs is not in the same league as those of the other parties. No moats, no pools, no tennis courts, no flipping of houses. Just some rather excessive interior design and a trouser press.

There has been a long standing joke in Private Eye about trouser presses, so it is more than a little odd to see one turn up in a more serious context.

Just a few more thoughts about the whole issue – cui bono? Well, the Telegraph for one – their publication of the expenses scandals over the last few days has bumped their circulation by nearly 100,000 copies. So it looks like forking out for the leaked information has more than paid its way.

There’s an excellent rant by Sarah Teather MP in the Guradina pointing out that this is essentially a problem of MPs’ own making – they had opportunities to fix the problem before it came to a head, but voted down reform, and nearly voted to conceal expenses altogether.

See also Ming Campell’s explanation of his expenses.

For those thinking like Norman Tebbit and considering backing a smaller party in the Euro elections – think carefully. The European Parliament is an important institution, whether you like it or not, and it needs members who will work. Do you want to be represented by a hard working Liberal Democrat with an excellent attendance record or a permatanned celebrity who will get elected for one party, quit it, form another party, quit that too, and not shown his face much in his constituency at all? Even the Nottingham Evening Post could not reach him for comment on his performance on his term in office over the last five years.

In other news, the Lib Dems launched their Euro manifesto today. I don’t like the design much, but I have high hopes for the content. We are the pro-EU party – and our key message is “stronger together, poorer apart.” But our manifesto is clear that Europe is not perfect and we have a checklist of problems that need fixing.