Secretary vs Nanny

Newsnight continues to make a compelling case against Caroline Spelman. The Times reports the story - that a secretary working for Spelman was shocked to find out how much she was paying her nanny for so little work. Sally Hammond - wife to a Tory MP - is said to be prepared to give evidence to the Standards Commissioner.

(Still) No case to answer?

So Caroline Spelman is to be investigated for paying her nanny out of public funds. It seems that she hasn't been entirely straight with us and that this arrangement lasted longer than she earlier claimed.

What gets me on this one is Spelman's attempt to spin the "exceptional" investigation as having arisen from her own request:

Spelman said last night: "Having personally referred this matter to the commissioner in the first place, I welcome his decision to look at it further."

As the Guardian points out:

After the story broke on BBC2's Newsnight, Spelman, on the advice of Tory leader David Cameron, held a meeting with Lyon and asked him to investigate in a bid to clear her name

.

No case to answer?

The Guardian reports that John Lyon, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, is "considering carefully" whether to carry out a full investigation into the Spelman affair. He says it would be exceptional to look at such an old issue. This may be a hint that he won't take it further or may reflect a belief that there is something worth looking at.

The report also quotes tories as claiming that the case is a "witchhunt" from a desperate, leftwing BBC.