Ross Lydall: Has Jo Swinson the nerve to demand home truths of Jacqui Smith?

Interesting to see that Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire and champion of openness and transparency, is due to ask the first "topical" question to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith this afternoon.

By a quirk of bad timing, Ms Smith has to face the Commons a day after finding her living arrangements splashed over the front page of the Mail on Sunday. By living with her sister in south London and nominating her constituency home as her second home, she is able to claim up to £24,006 a year in the second home allowance (entirely within the letter - if not the spirit - of the rules, it should be added).

Commendably, and in contrast to most other MPs, Ms Swinson publishes all her parliamentary expenses on her website. But will she have the nerve to take on Ms Smith, and secure for herself a few headlines?

One wonders what advice she might be receiving from her Lib-Dem colleague and shadow Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael. The MP for Orkney and Shetland, a canny chap, is due to be appointed to a new parliamentary committee overseeing members' allowances, as is Labour MP and government whip Tommy McAvoy, who represents Rutherglen and Hamilton West.