String 'em up?

There have been calls for MPs who have claimed for what are perceived as unreasonable expenses to be prosecuted for fraud. Would such a prosecution hold water? In general, I don't think so. Provided they have stayed within the letter of the rules, then in my view this would provide an absolute defence, whatever the ethical considerations. And the problem would be of course that the rules are so vague and open to interpretation that it would have to be accepted that most of these claims could be argued as falling within their scope. There might be rather more problems for those MPs who appear to have claimed for things like interest on non-existent mortgages, but even here the prosecution would have to show that this was done with deliberate intention rather than as a result of sloppy accounting or some such. No, I think the police and CPS would do well to stay clear of this mess.