One of the oddities about London Assembly  Member Brian Coleman’s record in running up huge expenses bills (e.g. in one year he managed to run up more taxi bills than all the other 24 Assembly member added together) is the incredibly soft line that Boris Johnson has taken on them.

For all Mayor Johnson’s talk about value for money, clearing out dodgy practices and so on, his message to Brian Coleman has in effect pretty much been, “Carry on as you were”. Of course, the news about Boris’s own big taxi bills does help explain this. And so perhaps it is no surprise that Brian Coleman is still at it:

Rather than make the short hop across London using the free travelcard that comes with his position, Coleman decided to arrive in style by black taxi. The return fare itself totalled £104, but the bulk of the cost – an eye-watering £264 – was incurred due to the driver being told to wait for five hours on the pavement, while Coleman was inside hob-nobbing it with the rich and powerful.

From the London Region Fire Brigades Union via Dave Hill’s blog.