Labour MP John Woodcock has said sorry after the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner ruled that he shouldn’t have sent these raffle tickets offering tours of parliament using taxpayers’ money:

“I apologise for this inadvertent breach of the rules, which I have always strived to follow as your member of parliament. I take the proper use of parliamentary resources seriously…”

Yet the injustice doesn’t end there. Woodcock says in a statement:

“The founders of the Save Our Hospital campaign have decided to donate the full 25 per cent of the raffle proceeds – £837.50 to the Hospital Equipment for Furness Fund charity. The cost of the envelopes is being repaid from the remainder of the fund which had been earmarked for materials to be distributed after the forthcoming general election.”

Given it came out of his parliamentary expenses allowance, why doesn’t he just pay it back out of his own money?