Spotlight on MPs' expenses

Snouts in the trough. Sleaze. They're all the same. Here we go again.

The Derek Conway affair and the subsequent "tumble to declare all" that it's prompted among the political leaders is greeted with a weary sigh by the public. And anger. And disbelief.

Nick Harvey

An ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph today suggests that 74% of those questioned believe that the employment of relatives at the taxpayer's expense is wrong.

And while MPs agree that this week has done nothing to improve their reputation with the voters, many are angry themselves that a practice that has gone on for years - they claim legitimately - is now being threatened because of the actions of a few bad apples.

The spotlight is now firmly on MPs' expenses - what they are entitled to claim by way of allowances and how they are scrutinised and regulated.

Prof. Justin Fisher

One suggestion, from the Senior Salaries Review Body - which recommends a rate for MPs' pay and allowances - is that the National Audit Office should take a random sample of a number of claims and investigate them.

Another is that any partner or relative employed should be listed in the Register of Members' Interests.

The latter is an idea backed by Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat MP for Devon North who sits on the Members' Estimates Committee chaired by the Speaker which discusses the auditing of MPs' allowances.

We're also joined by Justin Fisher, Professor of Politics at Brunel University.