The Cameron Action On 'Expenses'

It will be obvious to readers of this blog that on a number of issues I disagree with David Cameron and not only on the matter of Britain's membership of the European Union, but also on other matters such as local democracy.

However, it is necessary to give credit where credit is due and in stating that only rent, mortgage interest, overnight bills, utility bills and council tax can be claimed, he has shown what can only be described as leadership and in so doing allowing what most people would accept as 'reasonable'. Pending the findings of the inquiry by Sir Christopher Kelly, the additional banning of 'flipping' and the requirement for all claims to be published on-line, as they are made, is probably as far as Cameron can go at present.

Accepting that Cameron has stated certain Conservative MPs will be making immediate repayment of monies 'unreasonably claimed', it could be argued that repayment of all monies, other than the 'new allowable' items outlined above, should also be repaid by all Conservative MPs, where applicable.

I am still of the opinion that this does not go far enough and agree with Tim Montgomerie on Conservative Home that a re-adoption/delection process of MPs should be undertaken. This suggestion is one that all politcal parties should adopt if they really wish to 'clean house'.

For Conservative members and supporters, Cameron's actions must provide them with a 'fillip' and the hope that this will restore the party's standing in the opinion polls and that his 'decisive' action will be seen to be in marked contrast to the non-action by Gordon Brown whose continuing blaming of the system is obviously the wrong approach to take.

Gordon Brown has obviously been put 'on the back foot' by Cameron's actions and decisions and even now Gordon Brown is attempting to play 'catch-up' with his latest announcement that all MP's receipts are to be scrutinised. Even this announcement is being queried by two senior MPs who are contradicting Brown's statement.

As has been posted previously, the entire question of how Britain is to be governed needs addressing. It would be interesting to project a scenario whereby Douuglas Carswell and Daniel Hannan became so frustrated with the present situation that they decided to resign the Conservative whip and form a new party, based on their book, The Plan. It is accepted that this is wishful thinking and no more than a pipe-dream and the next best thing would be for the electorate to become more aware of the policies of the UK Independence Party, whose policy on the Constitution is the closest idea to those outlined in The Plan and which would provide the seismic shift in politics which is most definitely required.

Whilst acknowledging the obvious 'game plan' of UKIP for the forthcoming EU elections, perhaps a tad more concentration on their policies in general, as part of their EU campaign, might boost their votes even more?

Update: An interesting proposition from Richard North on EUreferendum.