The joys of Parliament, part two

The obsession with Lord Irvine's taste in decoration has gone on long enough.

The Pugin nightmare is recalled with wearying regularity, while one-time solicitor Stephen O'Brien is clearly seeking to open up a new front.

A recent parliamentary question from Mr O'Brien, the Conservative MP for Eddisbury, sought vital information on, erm, how many towel rails were installed in the Lord Chancellor's Westminster premises in the last year and at what cost.

For the record, two defective bathroom radiators were replaced at a total cost of 1,528.90.

As written parliamentary questions can cost several hundred pounds to answer, it leaves us wondering whether the question or the towel rails were the bigger waste of money.