By George, the Tories are a good example for Fianna Fáil

SPANKING or banking? That was the question one wag on the phones at the British Treasury was asking journalists this week, so as to ascertain which subject they were enquiring about.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne was back under the spotlight after renewed allegations from dominatrix Natalie Rowe that he snorted a “big fat line of cocaine” in front of her.

The chancellor has dismissed a 1994 picture of him with his arm around Rowe — who ran the Black Beauties escort agency, which charged £350 for S&M sex — behind a table dusted with white powder.