New Labour peer Peter Mandelson was intimately involved in twisting Lord Paul’s arm towards nondom status, The Slog has learned.

I doubt if anyone will be that surprised by this news. In fact, Lord Paul of Marylebone is more the PM’s mate; but as Gordon couldn’t organise a well-disguised lie to the Chilcot Inquiry, Mandy has (we understand) been explaining the Rules of Hypocrisy to the Deputy Lords Speaker. He has thus now chosen (because he’s been found out, and Lord Ashcroft told a fib highly convenient to the Labour cause)to end his nondom status. Lord Peter has allegedly told Lord Paul that he needs to “air his ethics”. As this quote is very Peter, I am much inclined to believe the plotter who gave it to me.

But here’s another perspective: ethics, as they say, is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. And as the dustbin-man in Pygmalion said via GBS, “Effics sir? I can’t afford ’em”.

Well, Lord Paul can certainly afford ethics. But he’s not always been ethical when people weren’t looking…as we can now see in this afternoon’s Times online story:

‘…the Sub-Committee on Lords’ Interests [said today] that it would be looking into Lord Paul’s expenses claims. The committee had been waiting for the conclusion of the police inquiry[from last year]….Lord Paul, one of Britain’s richest men, claimed £38,000 in overnight expenses after registering as his main home a flat that he has since admitted he never slept in….[also]…The Tories have put in a Freedom of Information request in relation to his appointment to the Privy Council last year..’

Probably The Times already knows this, but Lord Paul’s appointment involved, shall we say, some irregularities – comment upon which I cannot make owing to his lawyers being rather more skilled than mine.

All one can say for certain is that Lord Mandelson will be wishing tonight he had kept his pointy nose out of this one. Because although Lord Paul is rich, he is also (it now seems) rather cheap.