Peter Preston: "Without that formidable, meticulous investigation, no flipping revelations would have blotted honourable members' copybooks. So the Telegraph didn't merely hurry along due disclosure; it was the absolute, indispensable source."

"Locked in the bunker, [Robert] Winnett devised a system for going through the data methodically. First he sliced it up and distributed it between the six journalists, giving himself the Cabinet, somebody else the shadow Cabinet, somebody else Tory grandees and so on. The real work – checking expense claim addresses against the Land Registry, began a couple of days later. This information led the Telegraph team to discover some MPs' habit of "flipping" properties, designating a second home on which expenses could legitimately be claimed then switching to another. Checking electoral rolls and Companies House also revealed that some MPs had been switching second home designations to avoid capital gains tax. A source close to the operation describes the scene as 'like the ops room in The Wire. They would pin pictures of their targets on the wall then cross them out in red as they resigned.'"