Maggot Darling - Financially astute only on personal expenses?

The following curious tale from the columns of this morning's Daily Telegraph, here, shows typically Scottish financial astuteness on the part of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling MP, yet as he himself almost admits in The Times (and according to the BBC, here,) he is close to complete incompetence when handling the nation's money:

Last night, a spokeswoman for Mr Darling refused to comment on his expense claims. However, it previously emerged that until 2005 he claimed that a flat he shared with other Labour MPs was his "main home". This allowed him to claim about £70,000 in expenses on his Edinburgh home where his wife and children lived.

It was then reported that he switched his formal declaration and told the Parliamentary authorities that the Edinburgh home was his main residence. This allowed him to claim for a London property and it is thought he bought a flat in the capital.

However, after becoming Chancellor in July 2007, Downing Street automatically became his main residence. It is thought that he then began claiming expenses again on the Edinburgh property and rented out the London home. In the 2007-08 financial year, Mr Darling claimed £9,837 in second-home expenses.