David Laws: Oops!

I believe there was a conflict between [Mr Laws'] private interest in secrecy and the public interest in him being open and honest in relation to his expenses claims. I recognise and have very great sympathy with Mr Laws for the difficulty of the decision he had to make in resolving that conflict, because it affected all aspects of his life as he had presented it over many years. But it was, in my view, a decision which he had to make under the Code of Conduct and one which he should have straightaway resolved in the public interest, either by being open with the House authorities about the relationship with his landlord, or by making no claims at all against his accommodation allowance and accepting the ever-present risk that the relationship would anyway come to public attention, as, eventually, it did.

John Lyon, parliamentary commissioner for standards.
And this is what the committee said:

It is clear that Mr Laws recognized that there was potential conflict between the public interest and his private interest. By omitting to seek advice he made himself the sole judge of whether that conflict was properly resolved. It was inappropriate for him to be judge and jury in his own cause. As the Commissioner comments, it can never be acceptable to submit misleading documents to those charged with overseeing public finances. As this case shows, Mr Laws' desire for secrecy led him to act in a way which was not compatible with the standards expected of an MP.

• There was also a problem with Laws's claims before July 2006...

From The Guardian.

Fagburn thinks Laws is a quite awful politician - he's the main player behind the Lib Dems turn to the Right, free market economics and this unelected coalition - but I do not rejoice in this news.
The closet is a place people go to because homophobia exists.
And I will stand by anyone still trapped in there.

Update: I have to confess I keep changing my mind about David Laws - which is just what kept happening when the story broke last year.
The Telegraph ran a quite useful Q&A on Lawsgate - both the Times and the Telegraph have called for a swift return to Cabinet.
There seems to be a lot of gloating from gay men, which makes me feel uncomfortable.
Richard Littlejohn hates him, unsurprisingly - a nasty piece of vitriol neatly demolished by Angry Mob.
And no-one has a clue if Laws will return to the Cabinet or not.