I enjoyed this short Guardian leader

Earlier this week, as the clamour over MPs' expenses grew, a slight, balding backbencher went on Newsnight. The Telegraph's attack dogs had been on to him too, Chris Mullin disclosed, sniffing around his claim of the licence fee for a black-and-white TV. He admitted to being "guilty as charged – I've owned it for 33 years and never changed it". Jeremy Paxman does not usually hear such confessions from MPs, but Mr Mullin is an unusually candid and likable politician. In his diaries, A View from the Foothills, he stakes a good claim to be the Alan Clark of the Blair era – minus the sex but heavy on the self-deprecation (never one of Clark's qualities). Like the Tory, Mr Mullin never rose far in government (topping out as "under-secretary for folding deckchairs") but saw enough to make him a valuable acerbic guide – so that John Prescott's department goes down as the "court of Boris Yeltsin". Such insight might be expected from a former journalist who fought for the release of the Birmingham Six – but Mr Mullin also makes a distinguished backbencher. Formerly an independent chair of the home affairs committee, he also often votes on the right side in Commons debates (against the Iraq war, for instance). This Labourite saw the expenses row coming years off, and has long thought that parliament should have shorter recesses. At a time when the political class is so discredited, it is worth recalling those like Mr Mullin who do some good. What a shame that he steps down at the next election.