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This problem is clearly more deep seated than anyone thought.
Its not just a few fiddling MPs, its the whole culture surrounding MP remuneration.
What says it all to me is what new MPs are apparently told by the Whips when they get elected. 'We cant pay you properly, the public wont accept a big pay rise, so make the most of your expenses'.
It a sad indictment of what our Parliament has become. There must be a massive reform but first.
1/ Those who can be identified as being fraudulent should face legal sanctions.
2/ Inland Revenue should investigate the property portfolios built up by MPs and see that Capital Gains Tax has been correctly applied. If not and if there has been deliberate tax evasion the MPs concerned should face exactly the same penalties as they expect to be applied to any of us.
3/ Where abuses are identified without anything illegal being done then those MPs should repay the money.
4/ Those MPs who are identified as breaking tax and/or other laws should be banned from standing again for parliament.
We then need a General Election but first the political parties will need time to re-select candidates to replace the MPs, as candidates, who are shown to have been the worse abusers of the system, certainly all those who face any kind of tax or criminal action.
After the General Election there must then be a massive reform. This should not just be about pay and expenses but must go much deeper than that. The number of MPs for instance should be reduced, not by a mere 10% as Cameron suggests but further, to 500, and it should be done within 4 years ready for the next election. Difficult timescale but not impossible.
This smaller number of MP should be well paid and have decent secretariates to enable them to deal with an increased case load. They should not receive a penny towards the secretariate themselves, instead they should get an allowance to cover office and salaries paid centrally. The second home allowances should go and be replaced with an accomodation allowance for those living outside the M25 if they do not already have accomodation in London. At most it should cover only the mortgage interest on a single London property and, as a matter of course, CGT should be payable on any gain when sold. The system should be totally transparent to prevent abuse.
They should then only get the same kind of business expenses anyone else might get from an employer with the same kind of checks involved.
