Nadine Dorries knocks the nail home!

Nadine Dorries is a straight talking Tory MP. On her blog today she has a go at the journalists who knew all about the expenses business. It's all very true. Only this week, James Landale, BBC politics reporter, was talking as if he'd unearthed an Egyptian tomb. Must be the new haircut giving him ideas.

Of course all and sundry knew. What I find disquieting is the hypocrisy in all this. Last night on BBC Question Time a man from the audience had the timerity to mention David Cameron's wisteria removal. William Hague, momentarily copying the Prime Minister's air gulping exercises, mumbled about Cameron paying the money back. It didn't look or sound like a convincing reply.

Nadine says, " No Prime Minister has ever had the political courage to award MPs an appropriate level of pay commensurate with their experience, qualifications and position; as recommended by the SSRB, year after year. Prior to my intake in 2005, MPs were sat down by the establishment and told that the ACA was an allowance, not an expense, it was the MP's property, in lieu of pay; and the job of the fees office was to help them claim it." That is largely true. The problem is that what was told to them didn't quite correspond with the tenor of the text in the handbook.

Basically in all this nobody comes out smelling of roses. The Executive has a lot to answer for, MPs have abused the spirit of "the system", journalists have known about this and probably do the same with their "allowances". And the electorate expects democracy on the cheap and increasingly doesn't bother to vote.

The Apathy Party can't complain now that this has happened. And it probaby wouldn't have happened if we weren't in a recession with dodgy bankers and failing businesses all around us.

One thought does occur to me. The Daily Telegraph is owned by Sir David Barclay and Sir Frederick Barclay, known as the Barclay Brothers. These twins are mega-rich, live in a castle on Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, have upset the inhabitants of neighbouring Sark, and are generally shy of the public gaze. They don't get emails at 3pm each afternoon. Perhaps they should. It is alleged they don't pay their fair share of tax, are unco-operative with inquiries into their finances and act in a very secretive way. Surely not the best people to be standing in judgement of others?

The words "undisclosed sum" seem to accompany anything these twins get up to. Perhaps it is time to disclose what they are really doing.

Posted in: Barclay Brothers,Daily Telegraph,House of Commons,MPs expenses,Nadine Dorries