Whatever you think about the actions of British politicians as they hurtle towards next week's general election, it would seem they have got nothing on one of their counterparts in the US Senate.

According to the New York Post, New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada stands accused of exploiting 100 caretakers by making them work for two weeks at a time without benefits and on low-pay as part of a bogus job training programme.

During the ongoing investigation, brought by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, it has been revealed Espada paid just $1.70 an hour to 100 caretakers, by promising them full-time work at a healthcare centre after two weeks’ “training”. The state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

For his part, Espada accused Cuomo of an attempt at political assassination and insisted he ran a legitimate job-training programme.

It makes our MPs seem positively clean-cut by comparison...