MP expenses - what a farce!

I've just heard on the radio that the MPs who have proposed a motion of no confidence in the speaker of the house have stated that they don't trust him to do enough to reform the expenses system.

It is this "it's not our fault...we are victims of the system" rubbish that really urks me and makes me wonder how we can make the MPs themselves accountable for this disgraceful exploitation. I don't trust you to do enough to change the system you've exploited! Do they know how hypocritical this makes them look? They're not fooling anyone...

The MPs knew the system was there to be exploited and they exploited it unashamedly. Alan Duncan was on Have I Got News For You sometime in the past (clip shown again on Friday 15th May 2009) smirking about the system...
"Great system, isn't it?" he responded, grinning smugly as Ian Hislop asked him if he felt there was nothing wrong with him claiming for a 2nd home when he already owned 3. He was laughing in the face of the population and nothing gets done about it. These are intelligent people and, regardless of whether or not it was acting within the system, it was most definitely not acting in the spirit of the guidelines set out in the Green book. They talk about the MP being sure that the claims they make are necessary for the execution of their post (Moat cleaning, dog food, £400/month on food!) and are beyond reproach. I can't help feeling that, Alan Duncan definitely, and every MP who made from this system knew they were exploiting it for their own gains.

Does Hazel Blears seriously expect us to believe that switching her home designation just before she sold one property, thus avoiding Capital Gains Tax, was an actual fact (ie, did her family up and re-locate prior to this move it was it just a change on paper?)? The system may have allowed for it, but they all knew what they were gaining from it.

I have a solution to all, but the House as a whole probably wouldn't go for it. It involves the way we elect our Government and how they are held to account to their employers...us!! To really implement change from the centre out it is necessary to elect a class of politician that is not tainted by the old system (not that all MPs are by any stretch) or by the old boy network traditions. That requires a new party to stand nationwide. A party of the people. A loud democratic voice that will implement the necessary change and then step back and put the change into practice and create a new history for our future.