Allan Smith

Whenever I am in need of a good chuckle I read up on what London's mayor Boris Johnson has been up to. Not only has he lost his three most senior advisors to one scandal or another, now it has been revealed after promising to cut the costs of his Olympic trip to Beijing he has gone back on his word and raked up a huge bill on the taxpayer!

Boris told the national press in June he would be travelling economy class when flying to China because "he was likely to get a free upgrade from BA".  He also promised not to stay in a £400-a-night, 5-star hotel it was suggested he be based from.  In a leaked memo to City Hall staff on August 19 he admitted he was actually travelling - on the taxpayer - by Premium Economy travel, a step up from economy.  But then there's his free BA upgrade, right? Wrong - British Airways snubbed him an upgrade so he had to slum it in the cheaper seats.

Poor chap - at least his hotel bill would be cut, right?  Wrong again - Boris and his team stayed in the official International Olympics Committee hotel, the five-star Beijing Raffles Hotel - at a cost of £400 per night.  Same old Tories - promise one thing only to break it and do something else...