Furnish your home like an M.P.......

The lavish sums spent by some MPs on homewares have been one of the most shocking aspects of the expenses scandals. Sums such as £1,067.49 for a washer dryer when you can buy an Idesit model at Comet for £289.97. In one voice, the nation has been asking: “Have these people not heard of Comet, Argos, Homebase, Ikea or Tesco?” Or, for that matter, of Wilkinsons?

At this discount store, Jacqui Smith, the beleaguered Home Secretary, could have purchased a bathplug for just 69p, 19p less than the amount she charged the taxpayer. There is a Wilkinsons (known to fans as Wilco) in her Redditch constituency.

Lynne Jones, MP for Birmingham, Selly Oak, treated herself to Farrow & Ball wallpaper, which sells for as much as £45 a roll. The downturn has obliged most Britons to turn instead to the bargain range at B&Q, where wallpaper start at £3.48 a roll.

Paul Keetch, Lib Dem MP for Hereford, furnished his South London flat with a sofabed costing £690. At www.sofasofa.co.uk, the Madrid sofa bed (rather smart, actually) is £369.

Though I'm afraid I can't get you a floating duck island any cheaper than £1645.00 that Tory MP Sir Peter Viggers purchased. Perhaps with all the recent fuss he'll sell you it at a discount.

Why not make him an offer ? I can just see it it adorning the garden pond of a house in Lhanbryde now....

Until next time,

Jackson.