The things that rankle most, for me, is not so much the value of the expenses and allowances available to MPs; it's the fact that they have exempted their benefits from tax, ( payable by everybody else in the country ), and tried to exclude the fees system from the Freedom of Information Act.
I heard a radio interview yesterday with one of the lawyers who worked with Heather Brooke, the Guardian journo, on the FOI case against the Fees Office, ( which was the real precursor for the Telegraph stories ). At the end of the High Court appeal against the disclosure order, which the Government side quite rightly lost, the question arose as to whether the Government should be liable for costs, and for how much. HMG's lawyers argued that they should not be liable for full costs. The Judge asked why, and was told that "We should not have to pay the full amount, as our case was so weak from the start the other side should have realised and convinced your Lordships to shorten the hearing".
The Judge responded that this was probably the worst line of argument anyone had ever dared to present to him, and awarded full costs against HMG.