Fly me to the moon ....

... on airmiles.

A complaint has been lodged against the Speaker for using airmiles earned on Parliamentary Business to take his family to New York for Christmas.

The rules are that you are supposed to use the airmiles to reduce the cost of future flights, rather than for your own personal benefit.

This being Parliament and filled with Honourable (sic) Members, the rules are unwritten, flexible and virtually unenforceable. Hence the continual flow of scandal.

Parliament has two choices - open everything up to scrutiny, or batten down the hatches.

They will consider the latter, but they will have to go for the former, dragged kicking and screaming in openness.

Just out of interest, according to reports, there were the Speaker and his wife, his son (an MSP) his wife and their two kids, his daughter her husband and their son, and they got Business Class flights for all for £3,090.50. The son paid £309 for the flights and the daughter paid £230, none of which makes any sense, and begs more questions about who, what and all sort of (flying) Class issues.

Added to the generous use of taxis and libel lawyers, Mr Martin shows that he hasn't lost the common touch.