Stating the bloody obvious:

The proposed changes to the way MPs claim expenses may fail to allay public concern about misconduct, Whitehall’s standards watchdog has warned. (The Guardian)

Seriously, what prize idiot would think that MPs deciding their own expenses arrangements and salary would be a good idea? All it does is entrench corruption – or the perception of corruption – in the political classes.

MPs expenses must be tightened properly, not half-heartedly. That cannot be done by MPs themselves, but must be done instead by independents. MPs must have no say over their pay and expense levels. And their expenses must be completely transparent – we must now how much they have claimed and why. Right down to the last penny.