The LibDems collected not far off ten times what UKIP managed in Q3 donations. The whole ‘new third party’ dogma gleefully pushed by Farage’s team following last week’s by-election results was good for a laugh but it’s time to get real. Money talks, and the truth is they are still a long way behind…

Tory backbencher Priti Patel is twisting the thumbscrews over Margaret Hodge’s family firm.

As Tom Watson well knows, FoIs can turn up all sorts of gems. Like Labour MPs who rent flats from trade union officials using taxpayers’ money. Having previously lived with Len McKlusky, Watson currently rents two rooms from Unite official Jim Mowatt.  Between 2005 and 2009 Tommo and fellow Labour MP Iain Wright had claimed more than £100,000 on expenses for a London flat they used to share, now Watson is channeling taxpayer cash to a union pal for another property.

IPSA have yet to determine whether he is paying a commercial rent rate…

Labour wannabe attack dog Karl Turner is even more brazen, renting directly from Bob Crow’s RMT.

Yet more taxpayer funding of trade unions…

Another day and another charge for the PM’s old chums.  Andy Coulson and Clive Goodman have been charged over allegations relating to paying Royal contacts for the Palace phone book, while Rebekah Brooks & ex-Sun chief reporter John Kay have been charged over accusations that they paid MOD official Bettina Jordan Barber £100k for stories. Awkward… 

Last night Sally Bercow got into hot water for the second time in a week over her Twitter account: “Looking at tweets but (sadly) can’t reply (#lawyerswhippedmyass #asdidMrB).”

Then there was this:

And then there was this:

“And that is that. The end.”

Pics via @samuelcoates, @guywalters

Equalities Minister Helen Grant has opened up a new front on the rent swapping saga: claiming for a flat despite owning a property in another constituency close enough to London, that if they represented they would be unable to claim for a second home.

We have had dozens of MPs owning property in London and renting another but the dishonest geography of this scam looks even more blatant. Last night’s Dispatches reported that Grant lives in a £1.8m house near her Maidstone seat and claims the maximum, to the penny, amount for taxpayer-funded flat in London.

Despite the commute from Maidstone being little over an hour, as a non-London MP, she is entitled to a second-home allowance. But Grant also owns a house in Reigate, less than twenty miles from Parliament. A taxi back there would be far cheaper than kitting her out with a luxury Thames-view pad. As for Ms Grant, her staff were more than happy to twist the knife on last night’s show. It seems she’s upset almost everyone. More later…

UPDATE: Grant also employs her husband Simon with taxpayers’ money as a senior parliamentary assistant.