Greens call for independent commission to monitor MPs expenses

In a letter to the Committee on Standards in Public Life, the Green Party's deputy leader, Adrian Ramsay, has called for an independent commission to oversee not only MPs expenses, but their whole professional conduct.

Adrian Ramsay wrote: "Self-regulation of Parliament has clearly failed. We need a regulator who can scrutinise the professional behaviour of MPs in the same way as doctors, lawyers or accountants are supervised, and make sure bad habits don't return in the future."

The Greens proposed other key reforms in the letter to the committee's chair, Sir Christopher Kelly:

- the starting-point for the new system should be the principle that MPs are subject to the same rules as anyone else, not only for taxation but in all respects

- rules on accommodation and other expenses would reflect those that apply to the Senior Civil Service

- MPs must be prevented from profiting from second homes

- it should be a criminal offence to knowingly overclaim expenses

Ramsay also pointed out that wider democratic reforms of Parliament are crucial, such as elections to the House of Lords and regulating and containing the lobbying power of big business over MPs.

Conservative MPs to repay money following Scrutiny Panel findings

41 Conservative MPs are to make new repayments of allowances following the latest findings of the Scrutiny Panel set up by David Cameron.

The Panel was asked to examine the claims of MPs and decide whether these were reasonable, and whether, in retrospect, some money ought to be paid back.

They reviewed the second home allowance (ACA) claims of every Conservative MP between 2004/05 and 2007/08. So far, every claim has been examined by the Panel and the claims of 186 MPs have been resolved.

• 41 MPs are to make new repayments, totalling over £125,000 - this is in addition to the £130,000 already being repaid by 60 Conservative MPs
• 9 Conservative MPs have agreed to forgo all or part of the second homes allowance in future, estimated to be worth in excess of £100,000
• In total, these amount to over £350,000

David Cameron said that politicians have “a duty to listen and respond” to public anger over expenses.

And he stressed the Scrutiny Panel is an effort to address the public's concern:

“Unlike Labour and the Lib Dems, we have not just contented ourselves by accepting the tired old justification that something is “within the rules”. Instead, we have gone beyond the letter of the rules, examined claims in detail and sought to agree, together, claims which while we believe them to have been properly made, could be regarded as disproportionate.”

David added, “This is just one step – of many – that needs to be taken to restore both some trust and some faith in the political system. Trust between politicians and the people they serve. And faith in the fact that it is still our greatest hope to bring about the change our country desperately needs. Step by step, brick by brick, we can and we will fix our political system.”

The Panel will continue to sit and consider further allowance related issues as necessary.

Giving you the full truth on expenses

The reputation of Parliament was black enough before the black-out of expenses. Today it's even darker. I have long argued that transparency is absolutely key to re-building that trust. Suspicion and cynicism are instantly aroused by secrecy, so we need to open politics up to the people - especially when it comes to expenses.

When it comes to so called redactions only strictly private information - like phone numbers and bank details - should be crossed out, because there are legitimate security concerns about having this information online. Censorship for any other reason is unjustifiable. This is public money we're talking about - money earned through the hard graft of the millions of people we serve - so it is wrong to try and throw a veil over how it is spent.

So what next? The House of Commons Commission should bring forward the publication of the 08/09 expenses in uncensored form. My Shadow Cabinet are already publishing their current expense claims online, and today I've asked them to go further by including all significant correspondence and receipts.

I have also put all my expenses for the last month online, in full. To go through them click here. We can only move on from this dark time in politics by recognising that people have a right to see exactly where and how public money is spent, because it's clear - there can be no trust without transparency. Anything less than the full truth is just not good enough.

Marta hits out at MPs' expenses insult

The publication of MPs' expenses with key information blacked out has been blasted by UKIP's Marta Andreasen.

The former chief accountant-turned-whistleblower, now a UKIP MEP, said the release of the documents with the details obscured was a body-blow to freedom of information.

"This is not transparent accountability of MPs' expenses and it is not what anyone would call freedom of information," Ms Andreasen said.

"Everyone was expecting a full and clear publication of how MPs have been spending taxpayers' money and to be given the documents in this way is an insult to us all."

The details released of MPs expenses can be seen here.

David Cameron's letter to the Fees Office

David Cameron has today voluntarily paid money back to the House of Commons Fees Office following a careful review of his expenses claims.

The items which are being repaid were discovered as a result of a thorough review by David Cameron’s office, not as a result of media enquiries.

In a letter to the Director of Operations at the House of Commons, David wrote that his office had discovered a number of overpayments which he wanted to rectify.

The total amount that David has offered to repay, which includes £680 for a series of household repairs that David had already announced that he would repay, comes to £947.29.

Government to move forward on constitutional renewal

The Prime Minister and Government have outlined a framework for constitutional renewal that aims to reverse the apparent breakdown in trust in the political process.

At a Downing Street meeting on Tuesday, the Cabinet agreed to establish a National Democratic Renewal Council (NDRC) and to introduce new provisions to the Constitutional Renewal Bill that will establish a new code of conduct for MPs and a new Parliamentary Standards Authority to supervise MPs’ pay and expenses. The Bill is to go before Parliament by the end of the current Parliamentary session in July.

The Government will take a number of further steps, namely:

• Opening up for debate wider questions about political and constitutional reform
• Arranging cross-party talks on the modernisation of Parliament and issues such as the role of select committees and the ability of the public to petition Parliament and trigger debates.
• Conducting a wide-ranging debate throughout the country, via the NDRC, on key reform issues and reporting on the public’s priorities in the autumn.

Briefing journalists on the Constitutional Renewal plans on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said the Government wished to legislate “as soon as possible” on the issues at hand. The Prime Minister is expected to announce further details next week.

(CLG) Blears: community clout crucial to combat downturn

Local communities will be the driving force behind the UK's recovery from global downturn, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said today.

In a speech to Parliament she argued that local people must be given a stronger voice and a greater say in the decisions that affect them - those communities who work closest together are likely to emerge the strongest.

The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill, which has had its second reading in the Commons today, will strengthen local democracy and support councils and local people in working together to increase jobs, skills, housing and improve infrastructure, to help them to move beyond the downturn.

The Bill will create new local blueprints to increase prosperity, and tackle social deprivation and inequality in all parts of England. Councils will get a stronger economic role that expects them to work closely with regional partners to deliver economic growth. Regional planning is to be streamlined.

The Bill will also place a new duty on councils to promote local democracy and ensure all sections of their community understand how the council and other public bodies work, who makes the decisions and how they can get involved.

Councils will also be required to respond to local petitions on the issues that are of most importance to their local communities.

Hazel Blears said:

"A tough economy is affecting different parts of the country in different ways and to differing degrees. The downturn may be global, but the solution is local.

"It's vital that councils have the freedom, flexibility and ability to support their local communities. That's why we are giving councils new powers to address the economic challenges they face, so people in their area can have the right skills and opportunities to make the most of the upturn when it comes.

"And by giving people a greater say in local decision-making, councils will focus on the issues that matter most to them."

The Local Democracy Bill builds on government reforms to devolve more power to local leaders, in the 2006 Strong and Prosperous Communities White Paper, and last year's Communities in Control White Paper.

A new report published today to coincide with the Bill's second reading highlights the progress already being made to strengthen communities and empower citizens.

Over the past year alone, key achievements include:

* Signing off 150 Local Area Agreements;

* Announcing plans for a new fund to encourage the setting up of at least 20 new young mayors across the country;

* Publishing a new strategy for participatory budgeting, so more people have a say on how public money is spent; and

* Launching a new Asset Transfer Unit, to help councils and other public bodies transfer more buildings into community ownership.

An independent study also published today examines the various ways in which local people can be empowered and encouraged to participate in their local communities - endorsing the many measures being taken forward, including participatory budgeting, asset transfer and offering formal responses to petitions.

Clegg: No summer holiday before the overhaul

Thu, 28 May 2009

Warm words and rhetoric are easy. We must seize the mood and enact a radical programme of reform within 100 days.

Finally the dam has broken, and everyone is talking about changing Britain's political system. For decades reformers have been thwarted by Westminster inertia. But the MPs' expenses scandal has overturned old certainties and made change possible.

This moment must be seized by all who want a different kind of politics. Warm words, rhetoric and consideration are not enough; indeed, they are a guarantee that little will happen. So let us bar the gates of Westminster and stop MPs leaving for their summer holidays until this crisis has been sorted out, and every nook and cranny of our political system has been reformed.

Today I'm setting out a plan of action to get all the changes we need delivered in just 100 days - making it possible for MPs to be sacked by constituents, abolishing the House of Lords, getting corrupt money out of politics and changing the electoral system to give everyone a voice. People will say it isn't possible - parliament can't act that quickly. I say the innate conservatism that marks out our political establishment is part of the problem. Let's stop all this self-congratulatory hype about the mother of parliaments and get on with improving it.

Momentum will ebb away unless we act quickly. Delay would be a victory for those who want to confine change to the bare minimum - the two establishment parties who will talk up reform long enough for the storm to pass, then kick it into the long grass for good.

David Cameron's proposals set out in the Guardian on Tuesday were a masterful example of well-judged rhetoric free of substance and conviction. Open-source software, new select committee chairs and legislative text messages will not rescue British democracy. They are designed, I fear, to provide verbal cover for maintaining the status quo.

Real political change is about taking power from those who have hoarded it for themselves, and distributing it to others. So change will only be possible if the vested interests that have benefited from the way things are accept that they can no longer preside over an institutional stitch-up. For generations the Labour and Conservative parties have ­colluded to keep out competition. They are like a corporate duopoly, ­setting the rules of the game to maintain dominance. And just like in economics, it's ordinary people who suffer: taken for granted, and deprived of the ability to make different choices to those imposed upon them.

That is why what Cameron did not say is more revealing than what he did. No mention of the murky business of party funding. No mention of the scandal of an unelected second chamber. The rejection of any change to an electoral system that hands power to governments on a fraction of the vote. Without these changes, British politics will continue to be a game of pass the parcel between two old parties, while the rest of the country switches off,

So instead of long-term consideration of the possibility of tinkering, let us have 100 days of real action: swift, decisive and confident. It really is possible. The details of a reformed system of party funding have already been thrashed out between the parties, months ago. Sir Hayden Phillips secured outline agreement to ban donations of more than £50,000, limit spending to £100m over a parliament and shake up union contributions. The reason it wasn't adopted was because the Conservatives walked out, keen to protect donations from tax exiles such as Lord Ashcroft. But there is no reason not to return to what was all but agreed, and enforce it. The political parties and elections bill, now before parliament, could be amended and adopted within weeks.

Similarly, on House of Lords reform, the principles of a fully elected chamber have already been exhaustively debated and adopted by MPs. As in any bicameral system, peers should be elected on a different constituency basis and electoral cycle to MPs. Details could be decided on and introduced in the constitutional renewal bill being promoted in the House of Lords by Paul Tyler.

And then there's electoral reform. The ideal solution would be an Irish-style single transferable vote system in which voters elect the person, not the party. But even alternative vote plus - as first advocated by Roy Jenkins in 1998 and now backed by Alan Johnson - would ensure most MPs have a personal constituency link with their voters, as already occurs in Germany and Scotland. Labour made a promise more than a decade ago to hold a referendum on the Jenkins proposals. If the government won't call a general election, let us have this referendum in early September, as the culmination of 100 days of reform.

Together, over the next 100 days, we could achieve nothing less than the total reinvention of British politics. These months could become a great moment in British political history, rather than a shabby footnote to a shameful month of scandal. Let us seize, not squander, the opportunity for change.

Clegg: Let's take the dirty money out of politics - and have a battle of ideas

Wed, 27 May 2009

The expenses scandal that has rocked the country in the past few weeks is just the tip of an iceberg of problems with Britain's political system.

The exploitation of the House of Commons expenses rules has exposed a culture of arrogance and secrecy right at the heart of our democracy, protected for decades by the vested interests of those in charge. Finally, the truth is out and real change is becoming possible.

This is a once-in-a-generation chance to overhaul our political system, and we must seize it. We need a revolution - the power to sack MPs, a fair voting system, an end to the House of Lords, more power for Parliament to control the government and the eradication of dirty money from politics.

Money has far too big an influence on our politics. Labour is funded by trade unions, the Conservatives by multimillionaires, many of whom don't even pay their full British taxes. And all the parties have run into difficulties with donors who look dodgy. So we must stop big donations once and for all with a cap of £25,000 on any individual donations and a cap on total spending too. Politics should be a competition of ideas, not advertising budgets.

Once elected, government should be subject to proper control by the people's representatives in Parliament. Our Parliament has been weak for too long - there isn't time for MPs to scrutinise legislation and spending is controlled entirely by government with MPs unable to alter a single pound in a single budget. This has got to change. And a new, reforming Speaker should urgently reduce the power of government in Parliament.

But the reform of Parliament will never be complete while appointed party apparatchiks sit as legislators in the House of Lords. Whatever the merits of individual lords and baronesses, they should not be deciding the law of the land. This anachronism cannot be swept under the carpet any longer.

Finally, we must restore democracy by giving power back to people. Liberal Democrats have been calling for over a year for constituents to have the right to sack their MP if they are suspended for wrongdoing - this must be made law immediately so people can have their say on corrupt MPs as soon as possible.

The ultimate power people hold, however, is in their vote, and our system denies millions their voice. The Labour government that holds the reins of power was elected in 2005 with the support of just 22 per cent of eligible voters. Such a system, where so much power depends on the support of so few people, will always breed secrecy and arrogance. It must be changed and a voting system introduced that puts power into everyone's hands.

We have a choice in this crisis. We can patch up the obviously rotten parts of our democracy like expenses and pretend that's enough. Or we can choose to build a new democracy from scratch, with new rules for everything and new hope for the future. I know which side the Liberal Democrats are on.

We need a radical redistribution of power

The expenses scandal is still the number one topic of conversation across the country. In offices, on buses, at home, the strength of anger being voiced is like nothing we've heard for a long time. But I don't think that anger begins and ends with expenses. I believe it stems from a long, deep dissatisfaction with the way that politics and power work in our country.

The fact is that people feel they have very little control over the world around them - and they're right. While some areas of our lives offer us choice and control as never before - in media, travel, shopping, entertainment - when it comes to the things we ask from politics and the state, there's a sense that someone else is always pulling the strings, always pulling power away from people.

Today, in a speech to the Open University, I set out our plans for a radical redistribution of power back to the people: from the state to citizens; from Whitehall to communities; from bureaucracy to democracy. This is a massive, radical change. But I believe that through decentralisation, accountability and transparency we can take power away from the political elite and hand it to the man and woman in the street. You can watch the speech - and look at the live Q&A blog I did afterwards - by clicking here.

People are angry and feel betrayed

It's a brave soul who stands on a doorstep bearing their parties colours and asks the person on the other side of the door if they might consider voting for them. But we are still out doing it with only two weeks to go before the County and European Elections.

Yesterday someone stopped me in the street demanding to know why Gordon Brown was refusing to hold a General Election. Last week one man said he wouldn't be voting as he was too busy cleaning out his moat and slammed the door. Many people say they won't vote; some with a heavy heart after a lifetime of doing their democratic duty. But the simple truth is that people are still angry with a profound sense of betrayal by those who have failed to do their duty.

Last week I announced what I will or will not claim by way of expenses should I be elected to Parliament. I've undertaken to publish every detail of any claim on my website. I have also pledged not to spend taxpayers money on hiring any of my Conservative councillors to work for me or indeed hire any party political activist.

We've created a small army of professional politicians funded by the public without neither their knowledge nor their consent. It's not Conservative Party policy - these are my views. If we are to restore people's trust in our politicians and the political process we have got to start to talk with honesty and allow some free thinking - loosen the constraints of "party lines" and "spin".

We'll be back out tomorrow evening - there are a couple of positives that keep us going. The County Council candidate I am working with has the advantage of being local but what impresses people the most is the fact he's "not a professional politician". And then there's David Cameron. As one voter told me tonight "I wasn't much impressed with him before but he's now showing he's a real leader."

[Green Mail] Video - The Green Party on Expenses

Expenses row is "tip of the iceberg" say Greens

The Green Party is to submit proposals to the Kelly commission regarding the issue of MPs' expenses. The Greens believe that a full-blown investigation of what has gone wrong is essential if the reforms are to work properly. But on principle, the Greens will say:

- MPs should not be allowed to make up the rules that govern their own expenses and communication. There should be an independent commission empowered to oversee and regulate.

- There should be comparison with civil servants in how these matters are handled.

- It should be a criminal offence to knowingly overclaim - just as it is a criminal offence to knowingly overclaim benefits.

On accommodation, the Greens argue that MPs who live outside London need space both in the capital and in their constituency as they clearly have major commitments in both.

The proposal to the Kelly committee will be:

- MPs who live outside London could be paid a flat-rate overnight allowance.

- The allowance would pay for hotel accommodation, but could instead be used towards rent. (While many MPs have behaved outrageously, it's unreasonable to ask a good MP to live out of a suitcase).

- The allowance should only be paid for the nights that the MP needs to be in the capital.

As a possible alternative to the above, the Greens will ask the Kelly committee to consider the possibility of providing MPs who live outside London with apartments in London - or if they prefer to make their home in London, with a flat back in their constituency.

But the Greens don't see the crisis in British democracy as just about expenses. A Green Party spokesperson said today: "The crisis in British democracy isn't just about expenses. Disillusionment with politics has been building up for years."

"We have an unfair electoral system that practically guarantees a minority government - a government more people voted against than voted for. The whole system is dominated by three very similar parties. So instead of active public engagement with politics there is widespread apathy, cynicism and anger. Therefore we need a complete overhaul of British democracy - including a proportional elections system and a democratised House of Lords."

Clegg: Party leader talks see progress on expenses reform

Wed, 20 May 2009

Speaking after meetings between all party leaders to discuss reform of MPs’ expenses, Nick Clegg said: "Today’s talks saw more progress in a single day than we have seen over many decades."

Liberal Democrat Leader went on to say, "Finally MPs will no longer decide their own pay or write their own rules."

"There are still many issues that need to be solved if we are to restore people's trust."

Nick Clegg concluded, "But hopefully we have taken the first step on a long journey that sees Parliament dragged from the 19th Century into the 21st."

UKIP says that we should have recall elections to put the fear of God into troughing MPs.

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage has launched a radical new approach to dealing with the ongoing scandal of MPs abusing the expenses system. Here he explains...

"We need a solution to this political problem and we in UKIP have one: recall elections.

"No, this won't solve the problems over the greed of MPs getting their snouts in the trough, the moat cleaning, the houses and the dog biscuits, but it will allow us to do something about it. We'll be able to do something to the people who have done this with our hard earned money that we've had to pay in taxes, to punish them.

"We need to change the law so that we can have recall elections. This isn't a new idea, Aristotle describes it as part of the system in Athens in Ancient Greece. It's also the way that Arnold Schwartzenegger became Governor of California. Very simply, if enough voters decide that it's time that a politician went then there should be an election to decide if that politician should indeed go.

"In California for example, if 12% of the voters at the previous election sign a petition asking for a new election then there will be one. There doesn't have to be a specific reason, simply if enough of the voters think that they deserve to choose again then they can indeed choose again.

"Democracy has been described as a system where we get occasional chances to throw the bums out. But we only get those chances occasionally and in our current system it's whenever the Prime Minister decides we should get a chance. What we in UKIP want, what recall election would give us, is that we get to decide when the time is right. When the time is up for someone who's been shovelling our money into their pockets. We get to decide when to throw the bums out, not just whether.

"Some will say that this won't work, that anyone with a grievance will be able to make trouble. But we can make sure that doesn't happen too. Anyone who has ever tried to organise anything knows how difficult it is to get 12% of the electorate to sign a petition. The organisers who want the recall election must not only manage this, they also have to pay for them all to be checked by the electoral authorities. A serious challenge, one that won't be taken on lightly. So much so that only two Governors of US States have ever had this happen to them.

"So recall elections are going to be rare, they'll be difficult to organise, but won't they put the fear of God into the political classes? An idea whose time has come again I think."

"Can't blame people for losing faith in politics, " says top Green

Darren Johnson, chair of the London Assembly, today spoke out on the expenses row that has rocked British politics.

He said: "The MPs' expenses debacle has really undermined the public's faith in the political process and in politicians. And I can't say I blame people for losing faith. As a councillor and London Assembly Member I have always been used to operating under ultra-strict rules about what we can and can't claim for. So I'm utterly appalled at what many MPs have been allowed to get away with.

"With elections to the European Parliament coming up on June 4th I am sure many people are wondering whether it's worth bothering to vote at all. But that worries me. If the turnout is really low it makes it easier for the BNP to win a seat. So to decent people who cannot bear the thought of voting Labour, Conservative or Lib-Dem this time, I urge them to think about voting Green. Not only will this help elect more Green Party MEPs, it is also a positive vote for the future. As we said in our election broadcast - if you don't want things to continue as they are, if you think fairness, integrity and the environment belong in politics then think about voting Green."

The Green Party launched its Euro-election campaign this week with a manifesto designed to create a million UK jobs, slash carbon emissions, protect and improve public services and improve quality of life.

Shadow Cabinet expense claims published online

David Cameron has announced a series of immediate measures to start to rebuild trust in politics and take action on the issue of expenses.

He has banned Conservative MPs from claiming for furniture, other household goods and food shopping; put an end to the practice of 'flipping'; and set up a Scrutiny Panel to review all excessive claims and arrange repayments where appropriate.

In addition, the Shadow Cabinet are publishing online all the expense claims they make to the House of Commons.

You can view the Shadow Cabinet's expense claims here. They have been made available using Google docs technology, which is an open and accessible format so people can use the information however they choose.

Frontbenchers and all other Conservative MPs will start publishing their claims as they are submitted to the House of Commons as soon as possible.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has today written to Gordon Brown and David Cameron regarding MPs’ expenses.

In his letter Nick Clegg calls on Gordon Brown and David Cameron to declare that they will accept in full the recommendations of Sir Christopher Kelly's investigation into MPs' expenses.

The letter says:

This has been a terrible week for British politics. Days of revelations about expenses claims have caused immense damage to the standing of all MPs and Parliament itself. It is now vital that we act as swiftly as possible to draw a line under these events, clean up the expenses system and begin to restore public confidence. I am writing to you in order to drive this forward.

You will know that I have come up with my own interim proposals: that MPs should return to the taxpayer that proportion of profit made on second homes which have been subsidised by the taxpayer. As I have said to both of you in private and in public, I firmly believe the only long term solution to this problem is to take MPs out of the property investment game altogether. That means we must adopt the Scottish system whereby only rent costs can be charged to the taxpayer, not mortgage costs. I will be writing to Sir Christopher Kelly to make this recommendation in the strongest possible terms.

We politicians have slugged this issue out over the course of several weeks and got nowhere. To my utmost regret, we have failed to achieve consensus on a solution that could be implemented immediately and people have lost so much trust in politicians that they would be unlikely to support anything we could agree on anyway.

That means Sir Christopher's independent inquiry is now the only remaining option to clean up the system from top to toe. It must be accepted in full by MPs, without quibbling over details. I want all three of us to declare publicly and immediately that we will accept the report's recommendations in full.

In normal times I would be very reluctant to suggest we adopt proposals we haven't yet seen. But these are not normal times. Only by binding our hands in this way - removing the ability for Parliament to amend the Kelly recommendations line by line - will we have a chance of convincing the public that we are serious about serving them, rather than our own interests.

That is why I am asking for an urgent resolution of the House that will state clearly that when Sir Christopher's recommendations are reported, they will be put before the House in their entirety and we will not seek to amend them in any way.

This is a time of crisis in our politics and it is no time to split hairs over the details. I believe it is vital that we make a clear statement to the public that we know things have to be done differently.

I propose that such a motion is tabled in the name of all three party leaders - to demonstrate our unity of purpose on this issue - and is put to the House at the earliest possible opportunity and certainly before the Whitsun recess.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Nick Clegg

UKIP suggests a solution to the MPs' expenses problem.

The UK Independence Party has called for the government to overhaul the MPs expenses system and replace it with a model similar to that of Sweden.

“In Sweden, second homes in Stockholm for members who live outside the capital are provided by the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) and let to the MPs free of charge”, said Paul Nuttall, UKIP Chairman.

Swedish MPs who choose to live in apartments they have found themselves receive a flat 7,000 Krona, the equivalent of under £600 a month, and they cannot claim for improvements to that accommodation.

“This system would put a stop to British MPs climbing the property ladder and making huge sums of money at the expense of the taxpayer,” said Mr. Nuttall, who is also UKIP’s number one candidate for the European Election in the North West.

Also in Sweden MPs travel expenses are covered by parliament but journeys must be undertaken in the cheapest possible way. And they must be booked through the parliamentary travel office,” he said.

"These ideas seem a far more sensible use of taxpayers money than the system in place in this country, which as we have seen, is wide open to abuse.

"It is a very sad reflection of society that those elected to run Britain, purportedly for the benefit of its citizens, are only now gaining a conscience after they have been caught with their fingers in the till," he said.

We must reduce the cost of politics

David Cameron stressed the importance of reducing the cost of politics at Prime Minister’s Question - and outlined proposals to publish all expenses online, scrap the Communications Allowance and reduce the number of MPs.

David said we need urgent action on the expenses issues, and warned that Gordon Brown’s suggestion of a committee to examine whether or not claims broke the rules “doesn’t go to the heart of problem”.

“The issue is not so much whether the rules have been obeyed, but the rules themselves. It’s a moral and an ethical issue, and requires some political leadership to sort it out.”

David urged Gordon Brown to adopt his proposal for MPs to publish all their expenses online from now on; he demanded an end to the £10,000 Communications Allowance each MP receives, describing it as “a gigantic waste of money”; and he suggested making the House of Commons “smaller and more efficient” by reducing the number of MPs.

He stressed, “Isn’t it time to stop the talking, stop the endless committees and start showing some real leadership to deliver some real change?”

And he asked the House, “How can we bring about the change this country needs if we cannot change ourselves?”