Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

It's been nearly forty years since The Who made Won't Get Fooled Again and the closing lines are as applicable as ever. Today we can substitute 'boss' for 'Speaker'.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has had his grace-and-favour Westminster apartment refurbished at a cost of £45,000 to the taxpayer.
Mr Bercow ordered the makeover, covering work from child-friendly redecorating to new televisions and furniture, within weeks of his election as Speaker in June.
His wife, Sally, oversaw most of the work and the couple pushed ahead with the overhaul despite being warned by Parliamentary officials that the costs may be seen as excessive.
Emails reveal that Mrs Bercow compiled a lengthy “shopping list” of items that she wished to have changed in the Speaker’s historic official residence within days of her husband’s election.
The new documents, released under Freedom of Information laws, also disclose that Mr Bercow has spent almost £13,000 on entertaining and hospitality - including a three-night trip to Rome costing almost £4,000 - in just three months.

Seriously, is anyone actually surprised by this? The article goes on to point out that Bercow himself was criticised over his expenses, particularly his claiming of the maximum amount allowed for a flat in London, yet was nevertheless elected Speaker to replace the hopeless Michael Martin. Again, no surprises that the venal troughers would want to replace Gorbals Mick with someone who is, well, not unlike themselves. The reality is that at best the Westminster gravy train made an unscheduled stop and changed conductors, but unfortunately it's up and running again and working hard to make up for lost time.