Relief for Chris Rennard, but the system still stinks and the Fedex needs to pull its finger out

I am personally very happy for Chris Rennard on the news that the Clerk of the Palriaments (presumably someone who wears stockings to work) has cleared him of any wrong-doing over his expenses/allowances. Chris didn’t deserve this cloud hanging over him.

Looking at the Lords situation generally, however, it appears that the expenses/allowances rules are/were even vaguer than those in the Commons. That really is saying something….

As regards the Liberal Democrat party, I think Stephen Tall is right in his LDV piece: "Rennard’s expenses clearance: Party needs to learn some lessons in transparency". The silence of the Fedex was deafening. The party seemed to be just keeping schtum and hoping the problem would go away.

I thought the Fedex commissioned some sort of independent audit of the LibDem Lords’ expenses, didn’t they? In which case what happened to that?

All this has convinced me that no expenses or allowances should be paid to any parliamentarians apart from the normal travel expenses and hotel expenses that would be paid to most employees in business.

We need to completely wipe clean the House of Lords, in terms of membership, and start with an entirely fresh set of senators. A Senate! Crikey! That’s revolutionary isn’t it?!!!! How on earth will the country survive the shock!!!!!!!! Noone’s ever done that before have they????!!! No wigs! How awful! It's just not British! [Stamps little foot]

Those Senators should be elected under the understanding that they will only receive travel and hotel expenses on the production of receipts and that they will not receive allowances. If they don’t like it then they shouldn’t stand for election.

Ditto the Commons. Any accomodation for MPs in London should either be hotel stays reimbursed with the production of a receipt or state-owned accomodation with state-owned furniture. If MPs don’t like it then they can sod off and get another job.

It really is the time to stop faffing around and get on with properly reforming our system pdq.