Westminster Diary

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Welcome to our round-up of snippets from the corridors of power.

TAXI FOR MS SMITH

Never let it be said that the government is not supporting small businesses. The Home Office, alone, spent nearly £1m on taxis last year, it has emerged - an increase of 16%. The Conservatives, who obtained the figure in a written answer, are outraged. Shadow police reform minister David Ruffley said the spending was "utterly disgraceful" and claimed there has been a "33-fold increase in Home Office expenditure on taxis" since Labour came to power in 1997. The department also spent £1m on hire cars. The Home Office blamed the setting up of the "25,000 strong" UK Borders Agency "which operates 24 hours a day every day of the year". But it said it "remains committed to reducing travel costs and avoiding unnecessary expenditure".

SMILE - IT CONFUSES PEOPLE Did Mr Brown rehearse this clip?

Like many at Westminster, Tory MP David Gauke was puzzled by Gordon Brown's "smiley" YouTube clip on MPs' expenses. Did it require more than one take?, he asks in a written Parliamentary question. "The recording is available on the Downing Street YouTube channel," replies the PM. Er, OK then. "As you might expect from Gordon Brown, he doesn't give a straight answer to the question," the South West Herts MP tells the Westminster Diary. "But the implication is that his comical YouTube recording was the first take. If that is the case, perhaps he needs someone in the office to tell him when he is looking ridiculous and to try again". Ouch.

TORIES PREDICT PREMATURE VICTORY

With the Bank Holiday approaching, you would think that Conservative MPs would be delighted to receive text messages from their whips telling them their presence was no longer required at Westminster on Thursday afternoon. But no.

At the start of a fraught debate on MPs expenses Commons leader, Labour's Harriet Harman, accepted what was seen as a hostile amendment from the senior Conservative MP Sir George Young to put off discussions on expenses and allowances until Sir Christopher Kelly - the chair of the independent standards committee - reports, probably in the autumn. So the Tory whips swiftly told their charges that Labour had "backtracked" on their plans, victory was theirs and attendance was no longer required. But then the leader of the house pushed on with votes on reforming MPs expenses regardless in what the shadow Commons leader Alan Duncan dubbed "an act of lunacy" - leaving many on the opposition benches bewildered and bad tempered. And not just with Harriet Harman.

It turned out the whips' declaration of victory had been somewhat premature. Conservative MPs will be hoping the same level of complacency does not affect its general election planning team.

EXPENSES DEADLINE LOOMS

Lib Dem MP Norman Baker sent palpitations around a few newsrooms when he announced on Thursday's Question Time that all MPs expenses would be published in three or four weeks time. In fact, the Commons authorities are sticking to their original timetable of the "middle of July". The deadline for MPs to request changes to the documents - which run to about 1,500 pages per MP - is 21 May. MPs are currently ploughing through the thousands of receipts - amid unconfirmed reports that they contain career-ending revelations - to check for mistakes or anything that should be "redacted" such as bank details and home addresses. The deadline for editing the millions of receipts - and the resolution of any rows about what should or should not be published - is 19 June.

ROVER'S RETURN

"Psst, want to rent a dog? Low mileage, bit thirsty but it's a good runner". There are, apparently, companies planning to set up just such a service in the UK. But it is no good complaining to the government if you find the idea just plain wrong. Defra "have no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to restrict the operation of dog rental companies," minister Jane Kennedy informed MPs on Thursday.

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