Baroness Warsi’s integrity? Ha-ha-ha-ha! Integrity? Ha-ha-ha-ha!

As I’m sure everyone knows, the fragrant Baroness Warsi resigned from the government on the day the Israelis pulled out of Gaza, because she felt the Government’s policy on the crisis in Gaza was “morally indefensible”. The good Lady went on to explain “I must be able to live with myself for the decisions I took or the decisions I supported. By staying in government at this time I do not feel that I can be sure of that”.

What a breath of fresh air to have a politician with such high moral standards that she is willingly sacrificing her political career because of her “integrity”.

But I wonder where and why Warsi suddenly found this “integrity”, because she certainly didn’t seem to have it two years ago. In 2012, the House of Lords standards commissioner launched a formal investigation into the Baroness’s expenses claims. It was alleged that she had been claiming £165.50 a night (about £12,000 in all) while staying rent-free at a friend’s house.

Baroness Warsi naturally denied any wrongdoing over the affair, saying she made an “appropriate payment” to friend Naweed Khan – a Tory official who (surprise surprise) became one of her aides – while staying at the house in Acton, west London in 2008. But the property’s owner, GP and former Tory donor Wafik Moustafa, claimed he did not receive any money from Warsi or Khan.

Mr Khan, of course, released a statement supporting the good Baroness’s claim that she had made  an “appropriate payment” for the nights she stayed at the property and had handed him the correct amount to be passed on to the landlord.

However the owner of the property, Dr Wafik Moustafa, a GP in Acton, West London, denied that he received any income from either Lady Warsi or Mr Khan, “Baroness Warsi paid no rent, nor did she pay any utility bills or council tax. It was an informal arrangement, so no tenancy contract was drawn up”.

He told also stated that he was as shocked as any other reader when he read Warsi’s statement, which said she had paid “the appropriate financial payment” to Khan whilst staying in his flat, “Naweed [Khan] never paid any money and I never asked him for any money. She is trying to save her skin by any means”.

This was the second investigation into the activities of the good Baroness. David Cameron had already ordered a separate inquiry to determine whether Baroness Warsi breached the ministerial code by being accompanied by her business partner on an official visit to Pakistan. Cameron called in Sir Alex Allan, the independent adviser on ministerial interests, after Warsi failed to disclose her business relationship with Abid Hussain.

The Baroness had already written a letter of apology for causing embarrassment over the issue, saying she was “sincerely sorry”.

Unkinder voices have suggested the real reasons for Warsi’s departure on the day a Gaza ceasefire came into effect might have more to do with her business interests than any “integrity”. Still, now she’s a member of the House of Liars, she can claim expenses till the day she dies while using her peerage to get well-paid positions on the boards of loads of companies. So, all in all, Warsi is likely to become a multi-millionairess (if she isn’t already) thanks to being either:

a) an extremely talented and morally upright person

b) a M*sl*m woman from a working-class background plucked from obscurity because the Tories desperately needed to show they were modern and inclusive and politically-correct and sensitive to the views of Britain’s millions of M*sl*ms