THAT`S ALRIGHT THEN...

The Noble Lords look baffled and no wonder.   They seem nervous at the prospect of Baroness Uddin returning to their ranks after her 18 months suspension for cheating the taxpayer out of £125,000 when she fiddled her expenses.   As well as the suspension, she was ordered to repay the amount she pocketed after claiming a small flat in downtown Maidstone as her `main residence` rather than her £124 a week Housing Association family home in London.

I`m puzzled as to where she got the cash from to pay back the £125,000 and I don`t know why but I`m left with the suspicion that as the taxpayer stumped up 125 grand in expenses, it might just be that the same cash is being used to repay it.   It`s yet another remarkable example of justice not really being seen to be done especially as in any other walk of life the kind of mischief perpetrated by the ignoble Baroness would lead to dismissal, prosecution and the withdrawal of any title.

But Baroness Uddin somehow escaped the criminal prosecution that befell other peers of the realm caught with their hands in the till - Lord Taylor and Lord Hanningfield, for example - both of whom served jail sentences - and now that her suspension is due to end in a week or so and now that somehow  she has repaid the money, she will be free to attend the Noble Lords` House once more and pick up her taxpayer funded £300 a day allowance.

Well, that`s alright then.   Isn`t it?