Hazel Blears has suggested that Labour MP’s should “get a grip” in relation to gossip about those seeking to take on the top job when Gordon Brown steps down. Like that is going to happy any time soon!

However, in my view it is Gordon Brown that must get a grip, of MP’s expenses. At a time when everyone is tightening their belts to ride the storm that for the most part has been created by this government, its policies and Gordon Brown’s mis-management, many MP’s are filling their pockets with tax free expenses. These expenses are funded by the hard pressed taxpayers of this country. I am not suggesting that MP’s are not following the letter of the rules, but they are quite clearly not following the spirit and that in my view this is an abuse. To make matters worse, people right at the centre of government are also abusing a set of rules that were introduced to assist MP’s in their out of pocket expenses, not enrich their lifestyles.

Take Jacqui Smith for example. She claims that the decision to call her sisters home her main residence is within the current interpretation of the rules and that may even be the case. But this woman is the Home Secretary, surely someone that sits at the top of the food chain in terms of law and order should act strictly within the rules, not simply in the spirit of them? She, with her fellow cabinet ministers, must set good examples, not simply sit with their noses in the trough. Members of Parliament are in the unique and privileged position of bring able to claim expenses quite freely that those in the private sector could only dream of.

It is estimated that Ms Smith has been able to claim as much as £116,000 tax free as a result of this interpretation of the rules. If an ordinary member of the public were to be asked how they would determine someone’s principle place of residence, they are likely to state that it would be where the rest of their family reside, where the kids go to school, where all the household accounts are held, where your banks and credit card statements go to etc. So why is it, that MP’s are given so much latitude? Simply this, that instead of MP’s expenses being a method of reimbursing out of pocket expenses, it has become a ‘perk’ of the job and that is completely and utterly unacceptable. The Jacqui Smith debacle follows, of course, directly on the heels of the uproar over Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper’s interpretation of the rules that allowed them to elect which property was their primary residence (subsequently upheld by the watchdog). The bottom line is MP’s cannot and should not be trusted to vote on and determine their own allowances or expenses.

MP’s expenses must be further simplified, instead of a second home allowance, they should be provided with a ‘fixed’ overnight allowance. That is to say, if they elect to stay in a hotel then the maximum allowance is, for example, £120 with a receipt, if they stay ‘with a friend’ etc., then this would be reduced to £50 per night, for which no receipt would be required. All other second-home allowances must cease, they are an unnecessary expense. In terms of travel expenses, MP’s should follow similar rules to most private companies, flights under 4 hours, they must travel economy class, using the cheapest possible airline. Another very generous allowance is vehicle mileage, instead of MP’s maximising the benefits of this perk, the reimbursement should be limited to what the cost of a standard fare train ticket would cost for the same journey. In other words, if it costs £100 for a return ticket from Nottingham to London and the mileage allowance for using a car pays £260, the MP can only claim £100.

Unless or until members of parliament start to live and operate to the same standards that everyone else does, the public will continue to view  them with mistrust and scepticism. That is not in the interest of our democracy, nor is it in the longer term interests of our MP’s. Gordon Brown needs to stop protecting his cabinet colleagues and instead, start to ensure that they operate to the same rules and standard as ordinary members of the public. Because, in my view at least, there is little difference between failed bankers of publicly owned banks paying themselves bonuses out of public coffers and MP’s who have failed to protect the interests of the electorate claiming massive expense allowances, especially.  In all of these cases, the final bill is paid for by hard-pressed taxpayers. Gordon Brown needs to understand, that at a time, for example, when he is going to fail to meet his reduction in child poverty targets, his MP’s are filling their own pockets with the same money. How does he expect the general public to view such duplicity?

At prime minister’s question time, Gordon Brown told MPs: “We should agree as a world on a monetary and fiscal stimulus that will take the world out of r…, depression.” David Cameron did not immediately pick up on the use of this word, but when challenged later by George Osborne, the PM’s spokesperson said that it was a slip of the tongue.

Perhaps so, but it must have been on his mind, otherwise he would not have used such emotive terminology. Particularly given he had just finished lecturing Cameron on talking the economy down. It is however, precisely this sort of ’slip’ that must give the people of this country cause for concern over Brown’s capacity and ability to see us through this downturn coming, as it does, hot on the heels of his ’saving the world’ comment. When Gordon Brown makes errors like this, I cannot help but be reminded of Vince Cable’s comments referring to Brown as “Mr Bean”. Gordon Brown seems to go from one crisis to another in the spectre of a battering ram, rather than a well practiced, experienced politician. In my opinion, even his outbursts at PMQ’s are reminiscent of a spoilt child having a temper tantrum.

Little wonder then, that Gordon Brown has had problems, by his own admission, in getting Obama and the Indian Prime Minister to take his calls. Could this be because they are sick and tired of him lecturing them on economic fixes, when Gordon Brown and Labour Party policies have actually lead to the UK being in the worst position of any developed country to recover from this recession? From an outside observers perspective, I see Gordon Brown as a man of conviction, however, this appears to be offset by a man incapable of humilty, one that is unwilling to answer direct questions and a man who looks as if he will explode if anyone challenges him, so long as there are no members of the public or cameras present. Little wonder then that he appears to have surrounded himself with weak, self-obsessed people. Classic signs of a schoolyard bully.

In my view, Gordon Brown has few, if any redeeming features. I have never considered him to be a good chancellor, even when most of the newspapers, desperate for a scoop, kept pandering to him and what were the New Labour spin doctors. I also thought he would make an appalling prime minister, but in that respect, he has outdone himself, because I cannot find any adjective that could accurately describe his term…other than, perhaps, Mr Bean without the comedy. Time to go Gordon, do us all a favour!

In the meantime, David Cameron should prepare for office. By that I do not mean he must send all his friends details of his new address, I mean he needs to get some quality, experienced, heavyweight people behind him, ‘real’ people, not toffs or Oxbridge cast-off’s. Otherwise he will never shrug off the label ‘lightweight’ nor will he ever convince the people of this country that he knows what he is talking about. As I have said before, I believe that New Labour will lose the election, it will not be Cameron winning it, therefore, once in office Cameron must ensure that his key advisers and the people around him are ‘real’ people, because otherwise a man who has not experienced a recession, belt-tightening or poverty will find that whilst he may hold the office, he cannot claim to lead the people.

Which means that Cameron will just end up talking at us and continuing to use new phraseology that only he and his Conservative cronies fully understand.  Cameron has a real prospect of becoming PM, but I so hope he has the ability to understand that people will be voting New Labour out, his chance will come as a consequence of Labour’s failure, not his engaging personality, depth, sincerity or policies. It doesn’t really matter how he gets in, so long as Cameron listens, surrounds himself with people that will engage and challenge him, rather than blindly follow him. It is a strong leader, not a weak one, that is confident enough to surround himself with strong people and that is the BEST way to get rid of the lightweight tag.

A slip of the tongue for Gordon Brown at today’s Prime Ministers’ Question time, when he inadvertently said that “we not only saved the world”. Or was it? Yes, yes, I accept that he probably didn’t mean to say what he did, but I truly believe he thinks he is something of a financial guru and that is very dangerous. This is a man, who is in a position to further damage this country and yet so potentially deluded, that he believes he has all of the answers and somehow other world leaders are watching and then following his example. If they do, then the people of their countries have my sympathy.

The bottom line is whilst the president of the United States had to do to the Senate and Congress to get permission to fund a banking bailout, our prime minister was able to commit this country without refernce to parliament. The Prime Minister of the UK has immense powers and as we all know, power in the wrong hands can be disastrous, especially one that is deluded enough to believe he has all the answers. This is a prime minister that doesn’t listen, one that repeatedly fails to accept personal responsibility and one that is willing put this country further into debt so long as it doesn’t have to be repaid during his tenure in office.

What is truly worrying, is according to the latest polls, when it comes to the economy, Gordon Brown is streets ahead of David Cameron retaining an enormous amount of public confidence. Now granted, Cameron does not help himself by consistently painting an austerity picture, but really, how can anyone have any confidence in Gordon Brown? The mess that we are in happened on his watch, it was he that promised no return to boom and bust, yet we are entering one of the worst recessions of our lifetime. Moreover, everyone, other than Gordon Brown, accepts that we are in one of the worst possible positions to ride out the storm. Truth be told, when we do come out the other side, whether we like it or not, this country will be a shadow of its former self.

Our manufacturing business has been in decline for decades, our balance of trade has been propped by the financial services and banking sectors and as we have all witnessed, the latter has collapsed in spectacular fashion. It will never be what it was. Therefore, unless somone comes up with a brilliant new concept, we will not be able to rely on our decimated manufacturing sector, nor will we be able to look to the financial and banking sectors to plug the gap. Add to this, the governments commitment to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions together with the increasing tax burden on business and it is self-evident that businesses small, medium and large will struggle to prosper or perhaps even survive in this country. On top of all this, this country has a massive debt mountain that needs to be repaid through taxation, further burdened by a huge ongoing liability in terms of public sector final salary pension schemes, rising healthcare costs, education, PFI’s, government pensions and millions of people in receipt of tax credits, disability benefits, Job Seekers Allowances, unemployment benefit or other forms of income support.

In my view, far from saving the world, Gordon Brown has single handedly done more damage to this country than any previous minister in history. Still, he fails to grasp the extent of the problem or the active part he has played in this whole sorry state of affairs. For his legacy is only that our children shall have to pay for his mistakes, those of his government and yes, the excesses of many of the people of this country.

Perhaps it is just me, but I am beginning to believe that our MP’s are on another planet, not that they were born on another planet, just that once they become elected they appear to move to another planet.

We, the electorate, are almost always referred to as the “people” whenever our members of parliament or, more accurately, our ministers talk about us. Almost as if we are something different to them, of a different class, a different sub-species and, perhaps we are. Because MP’s simply remove themselves from the real world within months, sometimes days of being elected, or re-elected. They are quite happy to communicate with the “people” when they want something, such as your vote, but don’t expect them to talk to you again, at you, but not to you. Instead they will use any medium capable of delivering a one way message such as newspapers. Or perhaps, the internet savvy will use a blog, albeit many do not allow comments or moderate them to avoid anyone expressing an opinion that may differ from their own.

My point is, do any of the MP’s out there sound like us, talk like us or act like us. If we are being honest with ourselves, the majority don’t. For example, we make mistakes, but our MP’s in general and our minsters in particular, they never do. No, it is always a contractor, world events, the previous government, a civil servant, in fact anyone but themselves at fault. It is akin to driving a bus and claiming the accident was caused by weather conditions, the state of the tyres, the passengers, the previous owner etc., not because of anything the bus driver did. After all, it can’t be the bus driver’s job to check the tyres, the weather conditions or keep the passengers under control.

To err is human and believe it or not, most people can relate to that and the honesty that goes with being able to admit responsibility or culpability. Perhaps if more members of parliament were to admit the failures or weaknesses, we could repeat the entire saying, “to err is human, to forgive is divine”. In other words if they acted like the “people” they claim to represent, and admitted their mistakes, we would probably forgive them, because we can relate to something that happens to us all. In fact, at least making mistakes means we are doing something and it is better to do something and get it wrong occasionally, than it is to do nothing. Making a mistake and being able to admit to it can demonstrate our depth; provide a tangible example of our honesty and our integrity, not to mention our skills at objectivity and self-analysis. All the things, in fact, that we would expect of an elected member of parliament.

As soon as an MP is elected, they lose their ability to communicate with us, why, because they are then expected to toe the party line, they have to become part of a machine? So they must think about each and everything they say. They are no longer real people; they just spout the same party line, too scared of their own shadows to say anything else. This is a generalisation, but then, if we are honest with ourselves, this type of behaviour is a familiar trait with the vast majority of MP’s.

In the past, we have had real ‘characters’ amongst our MP’s most were not flamboyant, just outspoken. You may not have agreed with their politics, but at least they were prepared to step forward and say what they think, not the party hierarchy. Today, the number of characters amongst our 650 or so MP’s can be counted on one hand, simply because they are required to leave their opinions, beliefs and personalities behind if they want to get on or not be labelled a maverick. We would probably consider someone labelled by the party machine as a maverick as a person of principals, gravitas or of independent mind.

Once in parliament, our MP’s become robots, part of the machine where every line has to be rehearsed, every comment considered to ensure that is doesn’t offend anyone, difficult questions must be evaded and if you are fortunate enough to be a minister, then you determine what questions can, or cannot be asked. It is so far removed from the real world, that it is alien to us; therefore it is impossible for the electorate to relate to these elected officials. So, we have around 650 members of parliament ruling 65m people, but in such fear, that in truth, we are probably ruled by less people than in the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.

Take Prime Ministers Question Time, the PM always knows well in advance what questions will be asked, they also have a few stooges who are ready to raise an issue where the PM can preen his feathers and claim all of the credit. If the PM is rounded on by the opposition, he simply blames the previous government, in spite of the fact that Labour has been in government for 11 years, or refers to the voting patters of the other parties. Everything is staged, yes the PM or some of his ministers may be lampooned, but we are given carefully rehearsed and research answers that are delivered in such a way as to ensure that the government record or minister is cleared of any wrongdoing, responsibility or culpability. This is not real life, it is alien to us.

Gordon Brown has many, many problems to deal with, but the people, as we are patronisingly referred to, are quite forgiving, because we are normal. Imagine if you will, Gordon Brown standing up and admitting, that he should have put a little money away in the good times, to ensure that we could survive the difficult times, which were bound to come. He could admit for example, that there would be fewer pensioners in fuel poverty had he not raided their pension schemes. We can relate to these admissions because they demonstrate that to err is human. He could also admit that he made a mistake by allowing the Labour party to renege on its commitment to allow the people the opportunity to vote of the ratification of the EU Constitution. He could even offer to put that right, by allowing us the vote and saying sorry. He won’t because that would make him look like us.

Our leaders and our members of parliament need to start talking like us, speaking like us and acting like us if they are to re-engage with the public. We don’t all speak with one voice like the political parties, the vast majority of us are willing to accept our share of responsibility when things go wrong, we don’t disparagingly refer to a group of people like they are some underclass, we don’t rehearse our answers or have speeches written for us.

Members of Parliament have to re-engage with the public and to do so is quite simple, they don’t have to spend hundreds of millions on consultants to work out how. They just need to act like normal people with a big job to do. They need to talk to us as equals. They need to keep their promises and maintain their values, not sell them for a cushy junior minister’s post. They need to talk to the people that put them in parliament for the entire period of their term in office, not talk at them, but to them. Above all, they need to be humble, admit their mistakes, tell us what they are going to do to put them right and move on.

It is not difficult for our members of parliament to demonstrate that they are not aliens or resident on another planet.