MPs' expenses: time to say sorry and call an election?
Another bad morning for Parliament. On Friday we saw the expense claims of splashed all over the front pages; today it's the turn of the who've been claiming for light bulbs, dog food and a leaky pipe under a tennis court.
Is it now time for all MPs to , call an election and start over again with a clean sheet? (UPDATE 0959: Gordon Brown has on behalf of MPs for their expenses claims.)
You were all in agreement on today's Morning Extra that something had to be done, although Peter in Glasgow called to point out that most of us are guilty of double standards.
"There's a culture of cheating in this country," he told me. "When I was in business the number of people who said: take cash and save me the VAT, it used to really annoy me. And the number of guys who worked for me who'd fiddle the expenses."
Has he got a point? Do we all milk the system, especially when the rules allow it?
At the moment MPs audit their own expenses, but plans for an independent auditing body to oversee claims are expected to be approved today. I did like Pete in Perth's suggestion: "Why don't we call ordinary people to Parliament like jury service?"
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