MPs arrived back to Westminster yesterday, knowing that there would be a letter from Sir Thomas Legge with regard to expenses. Thomas Legge and his team have been conducting an audit into expenses claims. This is necessary as there were clearly anomalies within the old system.

This is a stage in the long process of moving towards a fair and transparent system.

Getting expenses right matters. People need to know that it is possible for people without independant wealth to be MPs, and this means that the unavoidable costs MPs incurr must be covered. It is also right that the public should not feel that MPs are in some way profiting from expenses.

I look forward to the time when these difficult issues are settled.

There has been some controversy over the Sir Thomas Legge audit. Retrospective caps have been applied to cleaning and gardening expenses.  Some MPs feel that applying rules retrospectively is against normal ideas of natural justice.

Some MPs have received suggestions that they should pay back some money. In my own case, because I had no garden and carried out my own cleaning, there was nothing to be paid.

This link to a BBC Q&A page on Expenses may give useful information for anyone trying to understand some of the issues involved.

 This link to An interview by radio stoke gives David's views on the expenses crisis. Listen: David Kidney on MPs' expenses