NO-ONE should ignore the fact that Olive McIntosh-Stedman committed a crime against the public purse, but that does not disbar her from holding a perfectly valid opinion about the MPs’ expenses scandal.

Much of the squealing from MPs caught with their snouts in the trough sounds very reminiscent of Mrs McIntosh-Stedman’s excuses.

She was, you will remember, the county councillor caught making a false statement to obtain council tax benefit.

She had not told authorities she had an NHS pension, savings account nor allowances for being a county councillor.

She paid the money back before she was taken to court, and has always said she forgot to give the details.

Again, let us be clear, that was a crime. But you could almost swap Mrs McIntosh-Stedman’s voice for many of the MPs clutching at straws to justify their greed.

The argument has been repeated for more than a week now: ‘No matter what MPs claim their own rules allow, if I did this in my life I’d be prosecuted. Why aren’t the MPs?’ Mrs McIntosh-Stedman can actually ask that with some credibility.

Despite the best attempts of our politicians, this scandal will not go away. And it is everyone’s duty to ensure it doesn’t. They are supposed to set an example. And that example is not to swindle the public.

What is even more disturbing is the stubborn refusal to admit they were morally wrong, no matter what the rules said, instead dismissing it as a media firestorm. Any politician who genuinely does not think this whole thing stinks is surely too incompetent — both morally and intellectually — to lead this country.

Olive McIntosh-Stedman paid her debt to society. Now it is the MPs’ turn.