A TORY MP SPEAKS

"Alan Duncan's future in the Shadow Cabinet was in the balance last night after he was forced to apologise for claiming that MPs were living on rations because of the expenses row. ...Mr Duncan, who is paying back £4,000 after details of his claim for gardening was revealed, said: "I spend my money on my garden and claim a tiny fraction based on what is proper. And I could claim the whole bloody lot, but I don't." Asked why people would no longer want to become MPs, he said: "Basically, it's been nationalised, you have to live on rations and are treated like s***." (Times, 13 August) RD