IT IS good to know that in these straightened times when millions face destitution and penury as a result of ideological brutality and arrogance that at least we can rely on our elected representatives to tighten their belts in solidarity.

Thus it came as something of a shock when it emerged that those principled types at Westminster were facing questions about hundreds of thousands of pounds A YEAR in expenses for jaunts to meet foreign counterparts.

Our pols have run up eye-watering bills attending sessions of the Council of Europe, Nato and other such bodies.