Yet it is Tory party chairman Caroline Spelman's payments to a nanny who may or may not have also worked as a constituency secretary that seem to be provoking most criticism.
It is astonishing that the ex-chief whip in Brussels, Den Dover, could pay his wife and daughter around £750,000 quite legitimately (although it was embarrassing enough for him to lose his job anyway), while Ms Spelman will have broken the rules if she is found to have paid for childcare rather than secretarial help.
Parliamentary staffing allowances are intended only for work deemed directly relevant to serving as an MP, and childcare is not viewed as such, while answering letters and filing documents is.
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