Frank's Blog

How fair is my comparison of Sir Thomas Legg's imposition of a retrospective 5 year claw back on MPs' housing claims with a similar retrospective decision to change the speed limit? I have likened Sir Thomas Legg's application of the rule on expenses to the scenario of a motorist who drives at 25 miles per hour in a 30 mph limit zone then five years later, once the speed limit has been changed to 20 mph, discovers he has been fined for speeding following a decision to back-date the claim....

From honourable member to rogue. That, thanks to retrospective and unprecedented changes Sir Thomas Legg has made to the rules on MPs' expenses, is how I feel. You may remember that last year I was part of the small band of MPs who voted to make details of our expenses public. It was a mystery to me why the then Speaker and his allies opposed being open to taxpayers. They were later defeated in the courts. As soon as the details of our expenses were given to MPs I put mine on my...

Smoking tobacco can kill. There is no question about that. What the House of Commons has to decide today is what further steps it will take to prevent people from smoking which will kill some of them. Up until this point the Government's campaign has been to prevent people from smoking in public places. I have supported these moves, with some reservation. Most people do not now smoke, and I guess the majority of us now do not like being in public places where other people are smoking....

George Osborne gains marks for being the first front bench politician of either of the two main parties prepared to spell out the details on the cuts which will have to be made to balance the budget in the longer term. Brave certainly, but not brave enough. The Government is spending way beyond the revenue it raises. It calculates that when the economy has returned to growth a £90bn deficit will remain despite the increases in revenue that growing economic activity will bring. The

Labour last week understandably played down the loss of The Sun's endorsement. But an understandably laid back response shouldn't hide the seriousness of this loss of support. Look at Peter Kellner's piece in the current issue of Progress. Kellner is vice president of YouGov and has analysed the difference between those voters who previously voted Labour, and who say they won't this time around, and those who have remained faithful. Kellner, I believe, misjudges his main conclusion. He...