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Over a third of MPs have now repaid money they had previously claimed on expenses. Some £637,000 has gone back into the government’s leaky coffers. According to The Daily Telegraph, the figure is set to rise still further.

As for those MPs grumbling that Sir Thomas Legg is introducing retrospective legislation, leading barrister Lord Pannick says in The Times that Sir Thomas is bringing clarity to untidy rules. Dr. David Thomas, a sentencing expert, points out that there is nothing unusual about retrospective legislation. The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, sections 26-42; the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, section 1C, inserted by the Police Reform Act 2002 and retrospective to April 1 1999; the Domestic Violence and Victims Act 2004, section 12, with effect from September 30 this year and the UK Borders Act 2007 section 32, for instance, are all retrospective.

And who introduced those? Why, our MPs of course.