Kirkbride and Moran stepping down

It was unlikely that Julie Kirkbride was going to survive the latest expense revelations against her and not surprising therefore she has announced in the past hour that she is standing down as Tory MP for Bromsgrove at the next election.

The same fate has befallen Margaret Moran on the side of Labour.

For Kirkbride despite vowing to fight on but the taxpayer funded extension was the last straw and made her position unattainable.

For Moran,Labour MP for Luton,it was the £22k claim for treating dry rot that finished her career at Westminster.Already up against Labour's star chamber and Esther Ranzen,her decision will be welcome by the party

Time to abolish the second homes allowance

It was only a matter of time before a formal complaint was handed into Parliament over the Tony McNulty second homes affair which featured in yesterday's Sunday Mail.

It has been handed in by Tory MP Greg Hands to the parliamentary commissioner for standards over the allegations that McNulty has claimed £60,000 for a house in his constituency occupied by his parents.

The solution to all this is surely to abolish this practice once and for all a policy apparently advocated by Alan Duncan on the Today programme who favours rolling these allowances into salary.