ALL this dodgy expenses lark is a real tonic, it really is. Just when the boundaries between the main political parties were becoming so blurred you would struggle to fit a cigarette paper between them, faith is restored that there is a difference when a Tory MP claims for moat-cleaning services!

We fancy you wouldn’t find an MP from any other party with a moat.

And cleaning it?! We thought the whole point of a moat was to deter people, not entice them.

Good old Tories. And there was us thinking our very own Witney MP ‘Dave’ (Cameron), right, had spent the past four years claiming each of his ‘caring, compassionate’ comrades was in tune with the rest of us.

And as for all the scandalous claims courtesy of the taxpayer, The Insider thinks it’s been worth every penny in entertainment value.

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Word reaches us of a small rumpus in the Liberal Democrat camp ahead of the Oxfordshire County Council elections next month.

Well-known community stalwart Peter Bonney — who stood for the Lib Dems in 2008 — is standing as an independent candidate in the Barton and Churchill division, we learn, after Patrick Murray, right, secured the nomination from his party.

And Mark Whittaker – once a Liberal Democrat campaigner – is doing likewise in East Oxford.

Oh well, if you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em, I suppose.

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The Tories who run Oxfordshire County Council – but have no representative in Oxford – are pinning their hopes of breaking their election duck by bleating on about soon-to-be created 20mph zones in the city.

Word on the doorstep is Tory gophers are pounding the streets trying to sell the merits of the scheme, which would see speed limits on all residential roads in the city lowered from 30mph to 20mph.

But one householder, whose doorbell rang the other night, had a cautionary tale to tell.

He said: “They thought they had achieved something by banning all domestic traffic travelling through bus gates in the High Street – and look what happened there.”

Let’s hope the experts have run this latest scheme past the government anoraks to make sure it’s water-tight.

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It’s rare for The Insider to gush about public services, but after a visit to the John Radcliffe Hospital recently (for a sense of humour transplant, since you asked), we couldn’t let the opportunity pass without praising its staff – from porters to consultants – for their dedication and humility.

We have an often-maligned, but world-renowned, facility on our doorstep and ought to be eternally grateful for such.