One of the great scandals of modern public life.

The above quote, from the Telegraph today, reveals the shocking and too-far-gone state of the Cabinet's expenses under the leadership of one G. Brown.

Senor Brown, apparently has been siphoning £6,500 to his brother for shared 'cleaning services' while Jack Straw, David Miliband, Alistair Darling and so on and so forth are also under fire for this "systematic misappropriation"

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="268" caption="Brown under fire"][/caption]

Details courtesy of the Telegraph (more as this story unfolds)

* Jack Straw received a 50 per cent discount on his council tax from his local authority but claimed the full amount. He discovered the “mistake” last summer within weeks of the High Court ordering that MPs release details of their expenses. He has repaid the money.

* Lord Mandelson , the Business Secretary, claimed thousands of pounds to improve his constituency home after he had announced his resignation as an MP. He sold the property for a profit of £136,000.

* Hazel Blears , the Communities Secretary, claimed for three different properties in a single year. She spent almost £5,000 on furniture in three months after buying the third flat in an upmarket area of London.

* David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, spent hundreds of pounds on gardening at his constituency home — leading his gardener to question whether it was necessary to spend the money on pot plants “given [the] relatively short time you’ll be here”.

* Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, changed his official “second home” designation four times in four years.

* Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, also switched his second home, which allowed him to extensively improve his family home in Derbyshire before buying a London town house also funded by the taxpayer.

* Andy Burnham , the Culture Secretary, Caroline Flint, the Minister for Europe, and Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary, also bought flats — or the freehold on a property they already owned — and claimed stamp duty and other moving costs. Mr Burnham warned the parliamentary authorities that his wife might divorce him if expenses were not paid promptly.