Shahid Malik steps down and Mr Plod gets closer

Two senior Tories, William Hague and Boris Johnson, have backed calls for the police to investigate some of the worst cases of MPs' expenses fiddles on the day Labour's 'golden couple', Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper, were dragged into the mire and Shahid Malik became the first ministerial casualty.

Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, told BBC TV that MPs ought to "be afraid" of police investigations for fiddling their expense claims. Johnson, the Mayor of London, also gave his support - in his own distinctive way - to the threats by the Taxpayers' Alliance to issue private prosecutions.

Boris told Jeff Randall on Sky TV: "I think, frankly, looking at some of these cases, it looks to me as though Plod needs to come in. I must be careful what I say because I am chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, but it looks to me as though some people may very well have a serious case to answer."

With more revelations being planned by the Daily and Sunday Telegraph this weekend, Shahid Malik's resignation as justice minister was announced today. He has stepped down pending an inquiry into reports that he claimed for tens of thousands of pounds on his second home in London while renting his constituency home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, for less than £100 a week. Malik said some of the reports were "complete fabrication" and the PM's spokesman said that Malik will return to office if he is cleared.

The question now being raised around Westminster is why haven't Employment Minister Tony McNulty, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Communities Secretary Hazel Blears also stepped down?

The Brown camp's confidence that Ed Balls will replace Gordon Brown when he eventually stands down may have been blown by the disclosure that Balls and his wife, Yvette Cooper, the Treasury Chief Secretary, 'flipped' their second home designation to three different properties within two years. Alan Johnson remains favourite for the leadership, not least because he has emerged as one of the few ministers who appear 'clean'.

A Daily Mail-backed campaign to bring private prosecutions against the worst offenders has set nerves jangling at Westminster. The paper today set out a 'charge sheet' for court action:

♦ Former Labour minister Elliot Morley, for claiming for a mortgage after it had been paid off - 'false accounting'.

♦ Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, for claiming her sister's house in London was her main residence so she could exploit the second home allowance on her family home in her West Midlands constituency - 'obtaining money by deception'.

♦ Employment minister Tony McNulty, for claiming a second home allowance for a house in Harrow just 11 miles away from Westminster while living with his partner in Hammersmith - 'obtaining money by deception'.

♦ Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, for avoiding capital gains tax on the sale of a London flat that she claimed was a second home - 'obtaining money by deception'.

♦ Cameron aide Andrew MacKay and his fellow Tory MP wife, Julie Kirkbride, for claiming the second home allowances on both the properties they shared - 'fraud'.

Despite Malik's departure, the Prime Minister remains under pressure this weekend to match the dramatic moves volunteered by David Cameron to clear out the fiddlers from the front bench. So far, he has totally failed to catch up with the public anger.

This was evident when Margaret Beckett was booed on BBC Question Time last night by an audience outraged by her refusal to pay back the second home allowances she claimed while she benefited from a grace and favour flat in Admiralty House.

Sleaze, and Brown's failure to react, have pushed Labour's poll rating down to 22 per cent, according to a poll in the Sun - the party's lowest rating in history. In the Euro elections, Labour is running neck-and-neck with UKIP on 19 per cent. It seems voters are ready to take the advice of Lord Tebbit: vote UKIP and stick two fingers up to the main parties on June 4.