Welsh MPs, Gas Bills and Sofa Beds

The big story of the day has been MPs expenses. What a tangled web, as they say. The taxpayer is apparently owed £1.3million, which will come in handy as we try to keep our heads above water having bailed out the banks, spent a fortune bailing out the Americans in their ill-conceived venture in Iraq, and more taxpayer's money soon to be doled out to pay for an election. A full list of who fibbed about what can be found here

But the thing that has been bothering me is not the naked greed of MPs (after all, if they wanted to live with any degree of integrity they would have chosen another career route). What struck me is the almost total lack of ambition on the part of Welsh MPs. While some English MPs have to pay back tens of thousands - Barbara Follett £42,458; Andrew and Julie Kirkbride £60,000; Liam Fox £24,878 - Welsh MPs are mostly paying back pocket money. Check the numbers here

If there is one thing worse than being represented in politics by thieves it is being represented in politics by thieves with no ambition. What "bunce" is out there that we might have enjoyed but they hadn't the imagination or fight to get it for us? For more on the Welsh political scene check out Betsan Powys' blog