It has concerned me, as a possible returnee to the Conservative fold, that David Cameron saw fit to keep his shadow cabinet from the wolves yet was glad to let the so-called grandees fall on their swords. He knows that several were extremely naughty boys when it came to dipping their hands in the expense pot.

George Osborne is now facing an inquiry by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner into aspects of his expenses claims. He is accused of claiming for mortgage payments "that were not necessarily incurred". The chap who complained about Osborne is Laurie Burton, the chairman of the local Labour Party in Mr Osborne's Tatton constituency. He says, "I share the outrage and anger of the great majority of people in this country, of all political persuasions, who have seen what has gone on in Parliament, who don't like what they see and like even less the fact that some MPs just refuse to accept what they have done and refuse to pay any money back."

I can't really fault that. It is a great pity that David Cameron allowed things to pass with a degree of favouritism. There is an element of Blairite superiority here, a kind of riding roughshod approach. Perhaps Osborne is in the clear, perhaps not. But it all seems a little unfair on people like Sir Peter Viggers, who was pilloried for his duck house claim, a claim that was actually rejected.

Gordon Brown has insisted he is being honest with people about his spending plans amid opposition claims he is hiding the truth about future cuts. "I've always told the truth" he says. Why is it that he finds himself with so many believing otherwise?

Paddy Tipping, the Labour MP for Sherwood, has had a heart attack. Thankfully he is doing OK. "I am receiving excellent care from all the staff at QMC hospital and I cannot praise them too highly." He is on the mend!

He is not the first MP to suffer a heart attack and he will not be the last. I have long thought that we ask ridiculous workloads of our MPs. They sit on committees, they do constituency work, they are encouraged to hobnob with all and sundry to enhance their careers, and they spend time travelling around. Now the pat answer is "We didn't make them do it" but that's not the point. The trust has broken down, not just over allowances, but over what MPs do.

I think there should be a constructive debate about representation in the UK. Do we need so many MPs. Should local government do more not less. The debate about MPs behaviour is one thing. We also need a debate on effective representation.

Another bumbling aspect of the reshuffle was the appointment of Glenys Kinnock as Europe Minister. A keen gravy train rider, some wheeltapper has momentarily knocked the stuffing out of her appointment. It has emerged that she could not do the job because she is still an MEP. Under EU Parliament rules, Mrs Kinnock is not allowed to serve as a minister in a national Government until she steps down as an MEP on July 14. Did she forget about this when she chatted to Gordon about replacing the expletive-deleted Ms Flint?

Mrs Kinnock, or more properly Lady Kinnock as her husband is a peer of the realm, is keen as mustard when it comes to receiving taxpayers' money. There has been speculation in Westminster that Mrs Kinnock was reluctant to quit her job as an MEP as she would have to forgo some of her gold-plated pension and golden-goodbye.

Lord Kinnock has in his own right been the head of the British Council. He quit last night. Ever a man to use ten words when one will do, he ran off a missive explaining his reasons why he could not continue "without risking the possibility of perceptions, at home or abroad, that the essential operational independence of the Council could be compromised because I am the husband of a minister in the FCO, the sponsoring department of the Council". This is a minute snippet of the letter!

The Kinnocks have never been outside the world of trade union or taxpayer-funded employment. Theirs is a world of political initiatives and expense-funded gatherings. It was little wonder the Sun took against Kinnock as a possible prime minister.

Now Lady Kinnock the wife is to become Baroness Kinnock. One thing the House of Lords does is knock the cockiness out of the political elite. She will have to be very transparent there. So I am pleased the Europe Minister is not in the Commons. Their lordships will not allow her much time to waffle and whine. And she will have two UKIP peers to lob her questions and to dissect her hyperbole. Can't wait!

Jane Kennedy is one of the more stable Labour Party MPs. By that I mean she does not court controversy or the plotter's crown. She was a campaigner against Militant Tendency. She has been a minister without undue problems occurring. However, she has been unable to give 'Assurance of support' to Gordon Brown. He has let her go. She said today, "I wasn't able to give the prime minister the assurance of support that he wanted. No one I have spoken to over the last week has told me to support him." The grim reality becomes ever more stark.

Labour MP Sally Keeble also says she is withdrawing her support for Mr Brown. In a letter to her constituents the Northampton North MP said, "When Gordon said in the autumn of 2007 he wanted more time to put forward his vision, that seemed fair. However 18 months on, it is painfully clear that time has really run out." Time has run out.

Gordon Brown is a prime minister who cannot blame the recession on the previous chancellor, because that person was himself. So he is damned on two counts. His political vision has not materialised and his profligacy as chancellor has come back to haunt him. It could also be said that his dithering fuels his temper tantrums which in turn feeds his dithering.

He's in a vicious circle. Perhaps tonight's Parliamentary Labour Party meeting can put him out of his dilemma?

James Purnell has stepped down from the cabinet and told Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "stand aside". Bold talk. It is get less than the 50/50 that Michael Crick talked about in Newnight last night.

In a letter to the Sun and the Times, James purnell, who is the work and pensions secretary, said he was not seeking the leadership but wanted to trigger a debate. He is not "leadership material" (a term I've been told not to use, but it suits the purpose here). Purnell is the third cabinet member to announce they are standing down in the past few days.

It's becoming very much more like Ten Green Bottles than it is Don't Rock The Boat!