How Mike Hancock saved George Osborne

The Financial Times has the story of an act of generosity by a Liberal Democrat MP:

Now here is a heart-warming tale of goodwill and political selflessness to start this cold winter day, a story of how a Lib Dem turned away an extraordinary piece of Tory intelligence and helped scupper Gordon Brown’s election plans.

Who is the man of honour in this a place of skulduggery and low politics? Arise Mike Hancock, the maverick Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South.

You can read the full details over on FT.com, which include this comment from Mike himself:

“I did only what I expect others to do to me,” he told me, as the sweet strings of a harp struck up in the background. “It was private. I didn’t keep it. Mistakes are easily made.”