Yet more dubious stories. A Tory MP has been taking his Jack Russell to work in the House of Commons, but now he has been caught and the dog is banned. This is apparently a catastrophe for him and he is invoking the Human Rights Act. Commons dog ban breaches my human rights, says MP … and no, he’s not the member for Barking (Mail on Sunday):

‘I told the Whip I would invoke the Human Rights Act – not for Max but for me.

‘Whatever people might think of the human rights rules, and I have my doubts about them, they are part of British law.’

I love the way he casts aspersions on human rights while invoking them.

But it gets stranger:

The provision Mr Offord plans to invoke – Article 8, which governs ‘the right to a private or family life’ – was successfully used by a Bolivian immigrant in 2009 to escape deportation on the grounds that he had to stay to look after his cat.

It seems odd that one Bolivian could get away with this without it becoming a precedent.

But further investigation via Google shows that the cat did not need a carer (unlike Mr Offord’s dog). The Bolivian and his girlfriend (nationality not mentioned) had got themselves a cat, and this was one of several indications that they intended to stay together as a family. See the Independent.