Parliament is in trouble

Parliament is in trouble – but not enough MPs seem to realise it.

This is my conclusion from the recent dreadful vote, when the Commons rejected radical reforms of MPs’ expenses.

You may know the story – MPs able – and sometimes willing – to claim over £22,000 a year, tax-free, to pay for a London flat, and all the trimmings, from TVs to garden furniture. MPs claiming such expenses without proper audit of whether money has actually been spent, or was relevant to their parliamentary duties.

I’m entitled to claim such expenses, but choose not to, like several MPs. I feel it would be wrong to claim £22,000 for a London flat, when Parliament rarely now sits beyond 10pm, and I can travel back home to Surbiton.

Unfortunately, the scandal is some London MPs insist on their “right” to this large housing allowance. Indeed, the bigger scandal is some MPs benefit personally and hugely from this allowance – with large capital gains from a second property, “free” home furnishings and extraordinarily large claims for food they’ve apparently managed to eat their way through.

We won’t rebuild people’s faith in Parliament, until we change this outrageous expenses’ system. The reforms I voted for would do that – paying MPs for legitimate expenses, without opportunities for personal gain, and with robust audit.

Our democracy is precious and I believe MPs, in general, deserve a better press than we get, not least given the long hours we work. Yet until MPs are prevented from gaining personally from the expenses’ system, Parliament’s reputation will rightly not improve.