Police involvment will be good for expenses debate

The news that the police are to investigate a small number of the most serious allegations is welcome.

Without prejudging these investigations or any subsequent legal action, it is to these cases that public and press attention should be directed. they have become lost in a thicket of detail, and people have become too concerned with increasingly petty individual claims.

For the future, the best defence is to compel MPs to publish their expense claims - without the black ink slathered over them.