By John Kennedy (John the Cabby)

Sleaze, it's back and just about to engulf the Conservative party all over again, so how can any party leader sit back and allow the present system of pay and allowances to continue within parliament. David Cameron should be concerned that the Derek Conway affair lifted a lid and woke up a lazy media who turned a blatant blind eye to parliamentary expenses and the loose interpretation of the very few rules governing claims.

Conway, Spelman, Chichester and Dover all Conservatives and all elected to either the UK or European parliament. Cameron needs to act now for his sake and that of any future government he may lead, the public have had enough of politicians with their nose's in the trough. We need to see Cameron turn this latest episode into a political advantage, he should be demanding reform of all allowances paid to MP's and MEP's, he should be setting the agenda and not waiting for the summer recess. Anything less than complete reform of all allowances paid to politicians will amount to failure in my book, it's time for parliament to hold its members to account.

Personally I would like to see the job of a MP evaluated and then bench marked against a grade within the civil service, this would settle the argument over pay and conditions for MP's once and for all. Parliament isn't out of date, in fact it is always ahead of the game with flexible working hours to suit the needs of the agenda of the particular day, it's the MP's who have worked the system to suit themselves and not their party, constituents or country. Just look at the level of attendance last week at the debate regarding the very serious problem of knife crime in the inner cities, it was a complete disgrace, maybe the debate should have been held on the terrace or in one of the many bars within the Palace of Westminster..

A week isn't a longtime in politics, it's enough time to get a expenses claim in. Let's seek reform of a system that turns intelligent people into fools and turns the electorate off quicker than a light switch on a wall. So just when you thought it was OK to vote Conservative sleaze rears its ugly head yet again. The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a opportunity to pull the rug from under the feet of Cameron and maybe derail the revival of the Conservative party. Go on Gordon give it a tug and see if he falls, after the recent polls what have you got to lose ?