Bloodied but unbowed

This is the latest MP to be caught up in the expenses scandal, possibly bearing the scars of a painful encounter with the Conservative leadership after reading today's Telegraph.

Stephen Crabb is widely seen as a Tory high-flier, a rising star, and an assiduous constituency MP. His website tells how he and his family returned to settle in Pembrokeshire before the last general election.

Except we now know that his main home for some time was a rented property in London, not the home where Mrs Crabb and their children live outside Haverfordwest.

The Pembrokeshire house was officially Mr Crabb's second home, hence he was able to claim on his expenses £9,300 for the stamp duty paid in its purchase. The taxpayer paid for the interest on the mortgage he has on this home.

This is, of course, entirely within the rules, and Mr Crabb denies there was any financial motive behind his re-designation of his second home. Like Jacqui Smith and Hazel Blears, his second home has varied between his constituency and London. It is now his London flat once more.

All perfectly within the rules, although the Conservatives' new scrutiny panel may have the final say on this.

Mr Crabb issued a statement late last night in his defence:

"Every decision I have made about accommodation as Member of Parliament has been made with the explicit guidance of the Fees Office. Indeed, the switch of my designated second home from London to the constituency in October 2007 was actually suggested to me by an official in the Fees Office.

"At the time I was not just using a room in a flat rented by another MP in Westminster, as implied in the Daily Telegraph article, I was actually the joint-tenant on a fully commercial basis and shared all costs of the property.

"I reject the allegation of ‘flipping’ my London property to make a profit as a result of taxpayer-funded refurbishments. The flat I sold in August 2007 in South East London was bought by me in 1997.

"During the 12 months that I claimed Additional Costs Allowance against this property I, along with all the freeholders on the estate, paid for obligatory external paintwork to be done and

I also claimed for five new windows following a burglary at the flat.

"The cost of this work was approximately £3,000. I am advised that this capital work did not materially affect the sale value of the property.

"Over the last four years juggling family life in two locations 250 miles apart has been extremely difficult. It has not been easy achieving settled arrangements but at no stage have I sought to change addresses for capital gain or to avoid capital gains tax.

"I stopped claiming ACA against the constituency property in summer 2008 after we had started renovating it as I did not consider it appropriate to enhance a property for which the taxpayer paid the mortgage interest.

"No renovation work on this property was charged to my ACA. I have referred all my accommodation arrangements over the last four years to the new Scrutiny Panel for independent advice on the claims I have made."

Marathon Men

Rhodri Morgan may not have made it as a Minister at Westminster but he left his mark in other ways.

Not just as the rebel without a pause in the lengthy debates over the Cardiff Bay barrage or his role as an effective opposition frontbencher, but his running has secured him a place in an unusual "hall of fame".

The Welsh First Minister remains the fourth fastest sitting MP in the London Marathon. Morgan completed the 26-mile and 385-yards course in a respectable 3hrs 14mins 44secs in 1988, at the age of 48.

He is 20 minutes faster than any other Welsh MP past or present. Chris Bryant, Alan Howarth, Alun Michael, Stephen Crabb, Albert Owen and Keith Best are among those to have run it.

Their efforts were celebrated at a dinner at a swanky London restaurant in January. Author and runner John Bryant reports: "And there was a toast to Mike Steele, who has run 11 marathons. An Australian who has worked as a journalistin the Westminster Lobby {largely for ITV Wales}, he is always talking another fresh-faced MP into tackling the greatest race on earth."

Mike has acted as unofficial "chief whip" to the running MPs - and also sorted entries for parliamentary hacks like me who lost out in the general ballot.

One of those "fresh-faced MPs", Chris Bryant, is running his third marathon later this month. The deputy leader of the Commons is running this year to raise funds for the Army Benevolent fund and you can sponsor him here.

Fitness permitting, I'll be joining him on the streets of London for what will be my 10th (and, Mrs C tells me, my last) marathon. Next year, by way of mid-life crisis, I'll be saving up for the little red sports car and leather jacket.

The West Amersham Question

It doesn't feel like Wednesday. There's no prime minister's question time, which may disappoint David Cameron more than Gordon Brown after yesterday's exchanges.

MPs are instead embarking on several days' debate on the Queen's Speech. Well, some of them are - there are no Commons votes until next week so some will be catching up with their constituents.

Cheryl Gillan invited the Welsh media to her loft-style office in Portcullis House for her regular weekly briefing over coffee and biscuits.

She wouldn't be drawn on Stephen Crabb's views on devolution - pity that. Discovering Ms Gillan's inner thoughts on devolution is like getting blood from a stone. We never had that problem with Bill Wiggin!

She did suggest one potential problem with plans to raise the education leaving age to 18 in England, a question that emerged after she was having her hair done in a salon with a 17-year-old work experience person.

What happens if someone of the same age in Wales moves to England (perhaps her own constituency of Chesham and Amersham) a year after leaving school? Would they be prosecuted or forced back to school?

The most probable answer is that the 17-year-old's work would include a large enough element of training to qualify as education, training or an apprenticeship - but an interesting question nevertheless.

Tory cats and pigeons

Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb has set the cat among the Tory pigeons with this attack on devolution.

His views are shared by the Monmouth MP David Davies, leaving Conwy's David Jones as the sole pro-devolution Welsh Conservative voice in the Commons (and I think he might quibble with that description).

Whatever you think of Stephen Crabb's views, there are some interesting thoughts there on the nature of devolved politics:

"Devolution has created a politics which is based overwhelmingly around calls for greater public expenditure and freebies for various sections of the population......in the absence of any mechanism to ensure a line of accountability between Welsh taxes and Welsh expenditure, all Assembly politicians are incentivised to ramp-up calls for greater spending in Wales."

That applies across all parties, so there is limited meaningful debate on the size of the state in Wales. Perhaps Ron Davies has succeeded in creating "inclusive politics" after all.