Leading Article: A nasty taste

THE ALLEGATIONS that Jack Cunningham has been living it up at the expense of the taxpayer may have been "rebutted" by the Cabinet Office on his behalf, but they still leave a nasty taste in the mouth. No one begrudges Jack a glass or two of whisky after a hard day in Brussels. But the wider perception is that this administration relishes the fruits of office just a little too much and that its members enjoy a lifestyle that, to use a new Labour slogan, is hardly in touch with "the many, not the few".

The best way to deal with such allegations against ministers is to have them investigated by the independent Commissioner for Standards, Elizabeth Filkin, rather than the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Richard Wilson, who will inevitably be accused of being too close to his political masters. It was proposed by Tony Blair in opposition; the time has now come for this proposal to be revived.