We are all talking a lot about the “decline” of traditional media vs the continued influence of press and broadcasters here in the UK, the USA etc. But if you want an example of just how influential an editor, painstaking journalism and some editorial balls can be, look to The Daily Telegraph. Their exposure of the alleged abuses and sheer stupidly the Parliamentary allowances system deserves a UN media award, let alone Newspaper of the Year.

It has truly changed politics and its relationship with wider society. Not always for the better.

I had some sympathy for Austin Mitchell’s wife (knowing Austin of old, truth is I have ALWAYS had sympathy for his missus) when she complained on the BBC recently that being married to ANY MP, not just a porn/duck house/moat/gardening/mortgage tax relief expense “abusing” MP, was like being married to a social pariah.

However, you could say that the insular nature of the political class as a whole, whatever background they come from, that made MPs and Peers think this was all acceptable, brought it all upon themselves.

The latest proposals on second homes, mortgage interest payments etc have been well received by the press, against the background of the continued steady trickle of “abuse” stories and the howls of revolt from backbenchers.

As a long distance commuter (2 x 2 hours a day when I am in the London office) I was interested in the proposal that if their nearest railway station was within 60 minutes of the Commons, MPs will be banned from claiming for a second home. A 60 minute journey during peak travel times is, as any rail commuter knows, a very different kettle of fish from a 60 minute journey late at night, which any MP would have to contemplate if they are doing their job properly.

(I don’t understand why they don’t do what any company would do, which is have a sensible policy of allowing for reasonable overnight hotel accommodation if their work legitimately – a late night sitting or whatever, as opposed to a jolly at the Brits – requires them to be at work after a certain hour. I work a lot of late evenings. I don’t need a second home. I just need the odd opportunity not to have to arrive home at 2am having negotiated engineering works, delays and hoards of fast food gorging drunks and violent yobs on a late night train, just to get up and start it all again three hours later, and to stay in a reasonably priced hotel that my company has done a sensible group discount deal with. This is beyond the wit and organisational abilities of the Parliamentary authorities??)

The concern voiced by some if that this will return politics to being the preserve of those who can afford it. To a point. We need elected representatives who can truly represent the electorate. You don’t get that if they all come from Eton or a career as a trade union official.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not calling for social engineering. I have met many Labour MPs and PPCs with the right working class credentials, but were either as thick as two short planks or just unpleasant careerists. Ditto many MPs with Oxbridge educations but lacking the street smarts to get from one end the road to the other.

But whatever reforms are brought in, they must reflect the need to get people into politics who have a passion for serving society and for change, not just those who can afford it.

(While all the above is going on, one Conservative PPC – Liz Truss – is facing deselection by her local party for having an affair with another married MP in the past. I have never met the woman but am told she is bright and has a lot to contribute both to public service and to improving the quality of people in Parliament. Get fired for raking in questionable expenses, fine, but for this? On that basis half the flamin’ Commons would be out.)