• "Lib Dem" donorgate...bring it on

The former standards chief Sir Alistair Graham led calls yesterday for an inquiry into how a businessman linked to the Liberal Democrats’ biggest donor was given a peerage.

Sir Alistair called for the Lords Appointments Commission to examine how it was kept in the dark about £395,000 in gifts from the newly elevated Lord Hameed’s business partners.

Labour and Conservative MPs demanded action after an investigation by The Times revealed that Lord Hameed was helped towards his independent peerage by leading Liberal Democrat figures.

Yup - do it. Investigate all you like. I'm pretty confident they'll find that apart perhaps from a breakdown in communication, they'll find nowt amiss with all this. Hameed's "new" business partners have been Lib Dem supporters for a long time. He was nominated for a "people's peer" not a Lib Dem appointment, and just happened to get a Lib Dem peer on his supporter's list.