Time for a round-up of news from the trough. First off, it appears that former deputy leader of the Tories and a man reputed to be worth £27m has been asking us to cough up some cash to help him have the moss removed from the walls of his five-bedroom home in two acres of Wiltshire. If you feel that's money well spent... good for you. Elsewhere, fellow Tory MP Chris Grayling is said to have claimed more than £100,000 from the state to pay for a London flat just 17 miles from his family home. The £104,183 claim is across six years, during which time the flat increased in value by as much as £200,000. It appears the property might be little more than an investment at the taxpayers' expense, since Grayling's neighbour didn't recognise him when shown a photograph. On the other side of the political divide, has Foreign Secretary David Miliband been caught out juggling properties to avoid tax? It certainly looks like it. Finally, let's hear it for Jacqui Smith, who is furious about all the accusations of greed. Okay, she did take £116,000 of taxpayers' money and spend it on her family home. But, if she'd have felt really greedy, she could have grabbed a further £58. Oink, oink, oink. Now tell us how the greedy bankers need to be punished.

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