Quick, Give Me A Policy - Any Policy!

Government policy seems to be descending into farce - well more farce than usual, anyway.

True to the trusted formula employed by the Campbell-Blair regime, Gordon Brown reacted swiftly to the expenses scandal which saw several of his minsters with their heads so far in the trough that all that could be seen was their backsides, which was only part of what was being seen by Jaqui Smith's husband, courtesy of the taxpayer. First he called for reform but that did not quell the criticism of the drama of Smith's husband's possible self-abuse problem or Tony McNulty's inability to join in with the daily hundreds of thousands of commuters who travel a good deal more than 11 miles to their work in London for far less than he was claiming for his second home - that wasn't even his. So our superhero then came up with an idea of scrapping the second home allowance that seemed to be the issue (not withstanding porn films or employing family to not even turn up and work) and instead give MPs a daily fixed sum just for turning up to work.

It's a novel idea which some might term as 'salary' or doing what they were elected for but the rather sumptuous £60,000 is for actually not guaranteeing that they turn up at all. In fact, Sinn Fein MPs have never taken their seats, but claimed their salary and still clocked up massive expenses. As they don't need second homes, you have to ask how they did that - but our minds can boggle.

The PM's plan has now backfired as he failed to get enough support for the idea and so there will not even be a vote on it. Of course, it shows the PM is pretty out of touch with the whole issue but that seems to be par for the course on most things at the moment. He eagerly awaits the Standards Committee's report as he desperately needs inspiration on what to do next and it shelves the issue for a while.

That is, until the next Minister with his/her snout deep in the trough is uncovered. That wouldn't be '3 home' Brown or Hoon would it? You know the fellas with 'Grace & Favour' accommodation, a prime home and claiming for a second home they shouldn't be using? Perish the thought.