A View from the House: We are all tarred and responsible for hopeless system

May 27 2009 By Philip Hammond, MP for Runnymede & Weybridge

If a week is a long time in politics, the last three have seemed like an eternity.

The drip by drip exposure of the Westminster expenses scandal has been like watching a train crash in slow motion. A public already sceptical of the political system has seen its worst fears confirmed and those of us on the inside have watched as the system has frozen into paralysis and the normal business of Government has ground to a halt, as Westminster focuses on tomorrow's Daily Telegraph rather than the many economic, social and fiscal problems the country faces.

There is no longer any distinction between the 'guilty' and the 'innocent' - the realisation has dawned that we are all tarred, because we are all responsible for the hopeless system that has allowed, and in some cases encouraged, this scandal to happen.

But I am confident about one thing - there will be no recurrence in the future. As David Cameron spotted early on, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

By requiring all expenses to be published online as they are made, first the Conservative party, and now Parliament as a whole, has ensured that future claims will be beyond reproach. The cost of politics is about to see a welcome bout of deflation!

The mood of determination of the electorate to have the opportunity to hold those guilty of the most egregious excesses to account makes the case for an early General Election unanswerable.

If Gordon Brown seeks to stand in the way of the tsunami of public opinion demanding a say, he will pay a heavy price.

What about myself? For the record, I claimed for rent only on a London home until 2006. Since then I have claimed for mortgage interest only.

No bath plugs, no movies and no food. But, reflecting on the situation, I do think it would be inappropriate for an MP to make a capital gain out of taxpayer funding. So I pledge today that I will pay any capital gain which is attributable to taxpayer funding of my London home to the Commons Fees Office when I eventually sell the property.

I try to balance the careful use of public money with the need to do the job I am elected to do. Others must judge the success or otherwise of my efforts.

Times online ranks me 598 out of 646 MPs in order of cost of expenses and allowances - in the 'cheapest' 10% of Members. That will be a position that I will have to fight to maintain - I predict that many of the 597 will be spending a lot less next year!