MPs' Expenses

The newspapers have been full of reports about Westminster MPs paying back money to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). 

But the real story is not what they're paying back - instead it's about the profit they're walking away with which has been accumulated through the use of public funds.

For example, David Gauke MP - a government minister made a £67,000 profit from the sale of his flat in Kennington, south London - yet he has only been asked to repay only £26,762 because the bulk of the accumulated profit was earned before 2010 when the new rules on MPs' expenses came into place.

Which means that almost 20 MPs have pocketed over £1 million and in one case up to £180,000 - after selling their taxpayer-funded second homes for a handsome profit.

The money being paid back relates to a two year period when MPs where allowed to continue with the practice of being paid a housing allowance - before this was finally ended in 2012.

The scale of their windfall was disclosed for the first time in figures released by IPSA the other day - and unsurprisingly prompted accusations that MPs were making a big personal profit out of taxpayers' money.

Which is true of course - and lots more of them have done the same thing in the past and walked away with a huge taxpayer funded windfall.

True to form, Martin Bell - the former MP who has campaigned tirelessly for greater accountability at Westminster - said that MPs should repay any profit they make on the properties.

Martin Bell said: "It's an open and shut case, of course they should pay it back. There is the spirit of the law, why are they making a personal profit from allowances which they receive from the taxpayer? In this case they very clearly are."  properties between May 2010 and August 2012.

Quite right too, if you ask me.