Brigg and Goole MP Ian Cawsey refused to vote in the House of Commons this week to scrap the infamous John Lewis list and to introduce a more rigorous audit of expenses. The following recommendations were rejected by MPs -

Recommendation 1 was for a "robust new system of practice assurance involving regular financial health checks on records kept and processes used in Members' offices with outside professional teams covering about 25% of Members each year". This was substituted by a "rigorous internal system of audit".

Recommendation 2 would have extended "the scope of the audit engagement so that it is the same as for other public bodies."

Recommendation 3 would have reduced the receipt threshold from £25 to zero so that all claims, however small, would have had to be backed by receipts.

Recommendation 4 was for the Green Book (setting out the rules on allowances for Members) to be revised to specify more detailed rules.

Recommendation 6 was for MPs to no longer be able to claim reimbursement for furniture and household goods or for capital improvements.

Recommendation 13 was for the Additional Costs Allowance to comprise of a £19,600 maximum budget for accommodation (excluding furniture, household goods and capital improvements) but operating on the basis of itemised reimbursement and a flat rate of £30 for daily subsistence.

Andrew Percy comments, "Last year our Labour MP claimed over £144,000 in expenses, including £19,000 from the 'additional costs allowance' which pays for MP's second homes. Clearly, he did not think the recommendations above were important enough to turn up and vote for. As a result MPs can carry on billing you and I for their furniture!

We are out on the doorstep pretty much everyday in Brigg and Goole and the one thing residents say time and time again is that they are sick of MPs using our money to feather their own nests. I have no truck with any MP of any party who plays the system, as some clearly have.

It's a shame that our local Labour MPs decided to ignore what local residents are saying and carry on letting taxpayers pick up their bills!"

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Sir Bob Geldof who was in East Yorkshire to speak in support of David Davis' by-election which our team have been assisting in. Sir Bob came to speak to a gathering of young people from across East Yorkshire about the erosion of liberty and freedom in the UK in recent years. His speech was brilliant and I particularly liked the extract below which talks about the loss of our freedoms and privacy in recent years.

"Let us ask ‘what is the point of England “ now that Parliament, whose primary purpose is to defend the liberties of the people have  so gratuitously, so wantonly, so casually betrayed that trust and taken from us that same liberty which above all else defines this country and its constitution, and that which has been its greatest gift to the world its freedom, its tolerances, its civilisation which William Wilberforce so forcefully argued so many centuries ago."

There can be no argument with these words and sir Bob certainly struck a chord with the young people gathered who I have to say asked some fantastically thoughtful questions. The Government now has 266 powers to force its way into our homes, often for trivial reasons. Petty officials can now snoop through our bins, eavesdrop on our phone call and even spy on children on the way to school.

I was in two minds about whether or not David Davis should have resigned his seat and in fact I told him of my worry just before he did. There can be no denying now though that he has definitely put the erosion of our freedoms and the interference of the Government into our daily lives well and truly in the spotlight.

Perhaps Gordon Brown should listen and start dealing with proper criminals rather than snooping on the daily activities of ordinary law-abiding citizens.