Solving the MP's Housing Expenses Problem

Later this week Parliament will be trying to stitch up seom deal to avert the current furore over Ministers and other MP's expenses claims that have in recent weeks been reduced to farce. Here is a simple solution.

For all those MP's who live outside London, and who need accommodation near to Parliament, why not simply provided them all with a house on some run-down Council estate? Now, I realise that the press would undoubtedly use this to run stories about well-paid MP's doing homeless people out of Council Houses, but the answer to that is simple. Currently, those same MP's get oodles of dosh to cover their expenses for hotal accommodation, or to cover the mortgage payments on their various other homes, or ven homes of their relations who they claim to be living with. That amount comes to way more than the rent on such Council houses, so simply Capitalising that Rent would mean that the Government could hand that over to the relevant Council so that it could build replacment accommodation, which would have the added benefit of providing some building workers with jobs!

Ministers and MP's are always telling us how much they want to "listen" to ordinary people, having them living on such a Council Estate would be an ideal opportunity for them to put that into practice!