Many of us watching the #DEBill debate over the past couple of days (yes I was that sad) came away feeling betrayed. Not just because the bill had passed, but because of the disgusting processes which had been exposed. I have an idealised image of what an MP should do and a rather more realistic vision of what I think they are able to do, a rather more cynical vision of what they actually do all from following the Civil Partnerships Act, the Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations and the Equalities Bill (also passed during wash up in the previous days).

I really shouldn't discuss politics late at night. I always end up with ideas running through my head that stop me from sleeping. Still this is what my blog is for, surely 8-).

Over the past few weeks there's been a lot of talk of MPs' expenses and just how they're being abused. There's a lovely graphic in Guido's post here showing MPs' salary and expenses compared to average salaries.

The Tory leader writing in The Guardian? Have we entered a strange new reality? No, I think Cameron is so confident that the country is ready to ditch Labour that he's trying can embrace the left leaning Guardian crowd with his call for parliamentary reform.

So, today we had three announcements: Michael Martin will resign as speaker (and stand down as MP triggering a by-election), Douglas Hogg (he of moat dredging fame) will not be re-standing as an MP and Gordon Brown has decided that MPs who broke the rules (which I believe we'll find to be virtually no-one except perhaps the phantom mortgage claimers) will not be allowed to re-stand as Labour MPs. So, we got some scalps. Are we all warm and content now? FUCK NO!