What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Just think about it. There are now currently 20 police forces investigating some 30 MPs over serious allegations concerning their election expenses .

This is potential election fraud on an almost industrial scale and we haven’t seen anything quite like it since the ‘cash for honours’ scandal.

You would think there would be headlines screaming for resignations, statements in Parliament and wall to wall news coverage.

Instead, unless you have been following the coverage led by the Daily Mirror and on Channel 4 News you might be completely unaware that there was anything untoward happening at all.

These allegations are casually dismissed by the Prime Minister as ‘accounting errors’ or as honest mistakes as if our electoral laws are some sort of optional extras that we can take or leave.

(Image: Reuters)

Our electoral laws are in fact carefully designed to preserve the integrity of our democracy and ensure that our democratic process is fair and transparent.

The complaints of course centre on activists being bussed into constituencies, some accommodated in hotels, to assist in local campaigns.

Read more:Tories fail to block police investigation into alleged election fraud

Where this becomes a question for the authorities is that any such campaign spending must be defined as ‘candidate expenditure’ when it seemed it was classified as ‘national expenditure’.

This becomes critical when the additional ‘national’ spending, if added to the ‘candidate’ expenditure, would take that candidate over the allowed limit.

And this is serious. If anyone is found guilty the penalties include an unlimited fine or a one year prison sentence. Election results could be ‘declared void’. There are consequences for the security of last year’s election result.

(Image: Getty)

In order to try and get to the heart of what is going on I have asked the metropolitan police to investigate the national Conservative Party and requested that the Tory party Chair, Lord Feldman, stands down whist these inquiries are undertaken.

He was the chair of the Conservative Party when all these allegations were said to have taken place and there are questions about his role in this.

As the net tightens the Conservative Party tries to have these investigations blocked. They desperately lash out at other parties and try to draw them in.

When none of this works they then question the integrity of the independent Electoral Commission themselves.

As hard as the Conservatives try to deflect and dismiss these charges as stunts the net is closing in.

The police investigations will take their course and at the end of this process there might be a number of serious consequences for this Government.