“OMNISHAMBLES” and “chillaxing”

are terms that, if they existed before, have only gained legs through political discourse.

It’s the modern, less decorous equivalent of “in the bag” which derives from the big green pouch behind the Speaker’s chair where MPs post petitions to ministers from constituents.

* Had Abu Qatada been given bail it would have been a mockery of the criminal justice system. I have had constituents refused bail in the US on the flimsy grounds they might flee to the country most compliant with requests for the removal of its own citizens – the UK. Ironically, the court refusing Qatada bail was worried he posed a flight risk. Yet flying is precisely what many citizens would like him to do. A one-way flight to anywhere that isn’t here. My concern would be Qatada at large in the UK as the Olympics approach and, with it, the most enormous security challenge. I don’t want a man with his history roaming unchecked through the streets of London as the UK plays host to the world.

* I’m sorry to see the grisly parliamentary expenses fiasco is not entirely sorted yet.

Members of the Upper House are unpaid. To subsist, they have to sign on every day for an allowance, the terms of which are bewilderingly complex. Historically, they have, no doubt, been subject to the same utterly rubbish checks and balances the Commons once “enjoyed”.

Tight auditing arrangements and unequivocal and transparent rules protect the public purse and those making claims.

* The situation in Syria continues to plumb new depths and one has an awful sense there is little its appalled onlookers can do for fear of making matters worse. I rarely get upset by what I see in the media but this weekend’s images of small children lined up in shrouds were simply gutwrenching.

One thing’s for sure, President Assad and his murderous cronies will face justice for their crimes. The only question is when and by what means. On methodology, in the small hours Assad can compare the fates of Gaddafi and Saddam with due process at The Hague.

* Last week, I had another go at the Serbian criminal justice system which has seriously discommoded one of my constituents, imprisoned without trial for more than a year. Serbia aspires to join the EU but is patently unfit to do so while it continues to apply laws used by Yugoslavia’s Marshal Tito to deal with political opponents.