We don't do contrition

Vulture

Absolutely right, Pete! There will have to be blood on the trax - and blue blood as well as red - before the public rage is assuaged. Mea culpa breast beating of the Dave variety ain't gonna be enough. It is hardly surprising that MPs are unaware of the public mood - after all, they've all spent the weekend in their second, third and fourth ( or in the case of Shaun Woodward) seventh homes.

Sally Chatterjee

Cameron needs to lead. He's the de facto PM in waiting and could seize the agenda with a move to force his MPs to repay their excess or face deselection.

Forlornehope

Ditch the electoral system and replace it with random selection. Problems of representation of women and minorities disappear overnight as do the costs of running elections. Introduce an elected executive, as our American cousins do and maintain a proper separation of powers. Problem solved!

Gary

The FOI wheeze - just require that the external auditor is only given copies or that Fees Office are required to retain copies.(HMRC expect businesses to keep such records for up to 6 years. If that is too onerous for Parliament it should be deemed too onerous for us as well.)

The simplest answer to this is to require MPs to publish their claims on a publically available central register **when they submit them to the Fees Office**.

Detailed, specific claims that can be backed up with a receipt. Date, individual items, ammount. Submitted quarterly and only allowable to be claimed in that period. No flooding the Fees Office just before the deadline with a bulk claim hoping they won't pick over them.

That would make them do their record keeping more proficiently and cut back on the specious claims.

Publius

I think The Times has it right on this. MPs should be paid a salary and they should pay tax on that salary. All of these expenses should be wiped out, and only obvious and wholly uncontroversial stuff should be claimable.

It is corrupting when those who levy tax on the rest of us basically escape paying the same tax themselves (as with Euro MPs). I mean, for God's sake, they already get subsidised food and drink in the Houses of Parliament, and have excluded themselves from the restrictions they please to impose on the rest of is (like the smoking ban).

Furthermore, being an MP is not a career and should not be viewed as such by MPs. If MPs have forgotten what public service means, and think they deserve what they could earn as XYZ in the commercial world, then let them clear out and do XYZ.

As the fine Kate Hoey said on the radio last night, if they don't like the deal, then let them leave off being MPs.

Chris Rose

This is a matter which Parliament must rectify without waiting for the Government to tell it what to do. The Government derives its authority from Parliament, not the other way round. We are elect our members of Parliament; they then form a government.

Cameron and Clegg could take a lead in this, as could other senior MPs. But they must act immediately.

DL

AUDITOR.

Patrick

Dave should sack the stinkers from his own side and in so doing put Gord in a no win situation.

barnacle_bill

Well Broon has just said sorry so thats alright.
Move along nothing to see ...

Pete Hoskin

DL: Thanks for the spot. Fixed now.

Occasional Ostrich

Sally Chatterjee
May 11th, 2009 9:29am

Oh, yeah, Sally; that worked when he tried to get them to give up their second jobs so that they could concentrate on preparing for government.

Bexleyite

Cameron should tell his MPs to go back to their constituencies, justify their expense claims to their consituency associations and if necessary face de-selection. That would be moral leadership.

Moraymint

We really must see Parliament dissolved now. Parliament is morally bankrupt and, like any company in a similar financial position, needs to be wound up.

At least we would have the psychological benefit of a fresh start.

Voters should investigate the behaviour of their own MP. If he/she has been patently abusing the expenses system, write to the constituency demanding his/her de-selection.

Call a General Election.

Any other approach to this democratic disaster is tinkering at the edges (Gordon's favourite pastime, unfortunately).

Paul B

Publius @9.45. Agree with every word, especially paragraph 3 & $

Publius

Ostrich. I disagree. I want MPs to have what you call second jobs. I want them to have their feet in the real world outside the Westminster hothouse. I don't mean sinecure jobs or corrupt lobbying jobs, but real activity.

Irrespective of which party is in power, what we see is a progressive loss of contact with reality.

MPs need to do less, not more. So do governments. They need to pay tax like the rest of us. They need to stand in queues like the rest of us. They need to use the goddam Tube like the rest of us. They need to put up with neighbour noise like the rest of us. They need to sit in traffic jams like the rest of us. They need to deal with the NHS like the rest of us.

Then maybe at last we'll have lower taxes, less high-handed shit from officials, a better Tube, and a bit more humility from MPs.

John Lea

I hope Cameron's lack of leadership on this issue, his mealy-mouthed condemnation of 'the system', the fact that he hasn't sacked or condemned any of those exposed, will prompt people on this site to wake up and finally appreciate that Mr Cameron is not the Messiah, and that the Tories are not an alternative to New Labour but an extension of it.

Verity

Well said, John Lea!

David Cameron is not a Tory, which means he is flying under false colours, which is a despicable thing to do.

Sally Chatterjee - "Cameron needs to lead. He's the de facto PM in waiting ...". I love a good chuckle with my first cup of tea.