Thank you, Mr Duncan

Well done Alan Duncan for telling it how it is. Not that MPs live on rations of course or that they are treated like the old proverbial, its not that how it is we ought to thank him for but giving us some indication of the way many MPs still think about being caught with their snouts deep in the trough.

The only thing many of them think they did wrong was getting caught. We can guarantee that the next list the Government publishes of MP's expenses will have more black lines than a herd of zebras with the only coherent information in many cases being the name and constituency of the member concerned.

We have already seen their reaction to expenses without receipts. New speaker John Bercow has proved himself not only more articulate than Michael Martin but just as adept at sleight of hand and picking the public pocket.

Under Martin MPs could wangle £4,800 a year, and many did, without receipts. Under new broom Bercow the rules have been changed to stamp out such unsavoury practices so that now they can only claim a mere £9,120 a year - almost double.

You might also remember that only last year it was revealed that the refurbishment of Speaker's House, Michael Martin's then official pile, had cost the taxpayer £1.7m over seven years. That is a lot of refurbishment.

So why, you might ask, does Bercow, the new improved Martin, need another £20,000 refurb. OK, with three young children you might need some child security but the place is rent free and they are his kids. No one else expects the state to pay to keep their kids alive in their own home.

You might just be able to argue for assistance, no more than that, towards the cost of child security in a listed building but claiming nearly seven grand on a sofa suite? And £760 for cushions? Don't these people ever put their hands in their pockets to buy anything? They probably even claim for the pen, paper and postage to send their expenses in.

I have met a fair number of MPs over the years and, with a few notable exceptions, serving their fellow man and making the world a more decent and better place did not come on the first page of their why I want to be an MP list.

Alan Duncan has apologised but it really was not necessary, in fact it is quite refreshing to hear an MP telling us what he really thinks without following the party line or adding the obligatory spin. MPs, who are well versed in making noises they think the public want to hear, will condemn and tut-tut but secretly many will agree with the sentiments and are just waiting for the public to lose interest so that the Westminster gravy train can start running again.