But what is the crime of the expenses saga ? Most MPs are fairly honest about their expenses, truly the ranks of the dishonest or merely greedy is dwarfed by the hundreds who have done little or nothing except complain insufficiently about a system too ripe for plundering. Yet they will be punished along with the worst. We can laugh at the sheer stupidity of millionaires losing plum positions of influence over a few thousand here and there on expenses. Almost nobody (Geoff Hoon excepted) made themselves comfortably rich, even if more than a few lined their nests too well.

At the bottom, this is an issue of trust. MPs are sent as our representatives to Westminster. Not to do what we tell them, but to do their best for us and the Country. Yet there have been too many examples of MPs and members of the Lords selling favours and peddling influence for cash. Brown envelopes stuffed with fivers are no theatrical cliche, they really happened. Equally parties are for sale, policies are too heavily weighted in favour of corporate interests which the public are beginning to recognise do not have their interests at heart. Just this year we have had issues involving inquiries into the expansion of Heathrow airport, coal fired power stations and nuclear power where the decisions were bought and paid for long before the public had their say.

Equally there is an exasperation at the impossibility of change. The first past the post system has resulted in a politics of the lowest common denominator, where both parties pitch their policies for about 50 - 80,000 floating voters spread across 40 - 60 seats. Nobody else matters, and nothing ever really changes. Across the overwhelming majority of seats in the UK, it doesn't matter who you vote for, the same old party wins each and every time.

Of course people don't say that when you ask them unless you explain it all first : They just know the system doesn't work, doesn't seem to work for most people. Just for the people at the top.