Andrew still doesn't get it

It is now nearly a year since the Daily Telegraph published details of the expenses claims submitted by St Ives MP Andrew George.

The highlight was a £308,000 "bolt-hole" London flat used by Andrew's student daughter, then aged 21. Taxpayers forked out for the £847/month mortgage interest payments. The Telegraph's revelations included details of furnishings paid for by the taxpayer, and how Andrew and his wife stayed in London hotels when he was on Westminster business. All of these claims were within the rules, apart from nearly £1,500 of furniture claims rejected by the fees' office.

Thursday's general election saw a spectacular collapse in the Lib Dem majority in St Ives, caused mainly by boundary changes which took Andrew's home town of Hayle out of the constituency. But Andrew's "victory" speech, bemoaning the way his expenses claims had been reported, suggests he still really hasn't grasped the scale of the scandal or his role in it.

Andrew has always denied doing anything wrong, claiming that his daughter used the London flat "only occasionally" and that he had met some of the costs himself. I fear he missed the point then and he still seems to be missing it now.

The "Nuremburg Defence" used by so many MPs - "I was only doing what the others were doing" - really is pathetic. Not all MPs claimed the maximum expenses and so some clearly have a better idea than others of the difference between right and wrong.

Here is a simple piece of advice for any new Member of Parliament: never, ever, claim on expenses for anything that you would not be happy to see on the front page of your local newspaper. And blame no-one but yourself for the way the voters see it.

Twelve months ago Nick Clegg said any MPs (including himself) who made profits on sales of their second homes should give that money back to the taxpayer. Lest we forget....