No one can have avoided the current row over MP's expenses and allowances. It is all very depressing. The Commons appears to be inhabited by people who are paid to represent us but appraently in some cases have no idea how ordinary people feel or think.I can't imagine many people having sympathy with the argument that MPs are hard up when they draw a salary of £70,000, claim at least another £24,000 and have most other necessesities provided by way of allowances. One snippet did make me laugh though. Among the items claimed; duck houses, TVs digital cameras, mirrors,rugs and £2,500 sofas were spectacles and eye tests often claimed on behalf if office staff..
One MP found to his cost after submitting a claim for £210 for spectacles for his wife, who also happened to work in his office, that the limit for such an expense is £50.
The rules are very different for others who claim designer specs on expenses. A court in Swansea heard how a couple tried to claim £1500 for six pairs of designer specs. They of course were facing charges of theft and false accounting rather than batting away questions from journalists.



