EXPENSES REFORM

The proposal to replace it by a daily attendance allowance for all MPs seems to be based on the European Parliament's “gravy train” signing-on procedure, a system that has no friends except those who cynically benefit from it. The expected publication in the summer of some 700'000 pages of MP's receipts for allowable expenses under existing regulations is apparently the reason for Gordon Brown's decision to rush through new terms and conditions. However, his daily allowance proposal may well have to be withdrawn before a Commons debate next Thursday or face defeat in a vote if it is not. If for either reason it does go down an important additional reform will also be lost - a provision that an MP's earnings from a second job unrelated to parliamentary matters should in future be reported. This would affect a considerable number of MPs who in effect have a second salary which they need not declare under current rules. More time is needed for the formulation of a sensible and fair expenses regime. Essentially, the problem is that the UK has too many MPs who are not paid enough for doing an important job on a full-time basis. Until that central fault in the system is addressed any alternative will be as open to criticism and abuse as the existing rules.