Time to move house

MPs' expenses are in the news again, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/9619022/Expenses-scandal-27-MPs-let-one-home-and-claim-for-another.html

They have done nothing wrong so I don't blame the 27 MPs but I do blame a system that allows them to gain another income from their position in Westminster. We want our MPs to be paid appropriately for their important role. The trouble is that we have gone through one scandal in which MPs could rent a DVD or get their moat cleaned and bill the tax payer. More importantly the same scandal allowed MPs to have a second home a few miles from their first home and not pay for it. There is a long list of abuse and some MPs were found to have acted illegally. What the public wanted is a system that is transparent and fair and that is what we still want.

MPs don't need to be given a second home across the road from the Houses of Parliament. They do need accommodation nearby but that's not the same thing. So an MP with the bonus of an expensive home in Westminster is still seen as wrong and that's why the Telegraph's story will gather support from across the nation. There have been important improvements in how MPs can claim expenses and if this means that some can't afford a really expensive flat then there is a really simple answer - move house.

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