Do they think that we are fools?

The Daily Telegraph claimed this morning that MPs have secretly awarded themselves a better subsistence allowance to replace the £400 per month food allowance they had previously. The new allowance, £25 for every night spent away from their main residence, with no receipts needed and no details required.

So, if they stopped five nights each week, and went home at week-ends, they could amass approaching £600 per month, or fifty per cent more than their food allowance. They will also enjoy travel expenses and mortgage interest costs, as well as office and staff allowances, as before. (The truth is, of course, that many spend only three nights a week when Parliament is in session, before sloping off for an extended week-end.)

The Telegraph gave the slightly misleading impression that this conspiracy has all been cooked up since the expenses scandal broke three months ago. In fact the details had been produced as early as last January, agreed in March and to be implemented in their new "green book" in early July.

The newspaper is correct to say that this is the first time we have heard of it, which is quite remarkable if true. Why has "Put things Right" Brown not seen what was coming, nor "Protester" Cameron?

There are even larger questions. Why do they need such an allowance? If they were not MPs they would still have to feed themselves, and they do enjoy a high salary. And why is it not transparent? If we looked to find another job which paid a good salary and then as much as £7,000 a year in food allowance without any receipts or details, we would be hard pressed to find one.