That this House believes that the loss of public confidence in MPs is being continuously eroded by allegations over the use of the second home allowance by MPs of all parties and that the Parliamentary rules are themselves a significant factor in this regardless of whether or not they are ever being broken; calls for immediate action to resolve this long standing problem and regards the new system being introduced on 1 April 2009 as an insufficient improvement; notes the current recession, and the significant fall in mortgage interest in the last year; believes that the second home allowance should be cut significantly from its £24,000 limit and that instead there should be significantly lower maximum for those requiring a second home and that this sum should be paid as salary; urges these new arrangements be agreed within three months and brought in immediately following the General Election; and believes that such a system will help re-build public confidence in the propriety of MPs.

Please note this Motion is being laid down on 30th March 2009 and has not yet been printed.