It is fair to say that this has not been a pleasant week in and around the House of Commons.
I think "grim" best describes the mood, as MPs come to terms with the reality that their standing in the eyes of the public they serve has not so much as fallen during the past seven days, but positively plummeted.
And what's more, this has nothing to do with Party politics. Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat: all of us have been collectively humiliated by the daily drip feed of revelations over MPs expenses. I think this was reflected in the rather downbeat Prime Ministers' Questions on Wednesday. All of us knew there was little we could do but be contrite.
But that said, I want to come out in defence of many MPs - on both sides of the House - who I know are nothing but honourable in both intent and action. Alas, all of us are tarred with the same brush when the headlines are dominated morning, noon and night by stories of outrageous excess.
I said this during the week, and I will say it again: salary is what you receive for the work you do, as defined in your contract of employment; expenses are what you are entitled to reclaim to cover outgoings made in pursuit of your work; allowances are a privilege you are granted for staff, office resources, and other requirements needed to support you in the furtherance on your duties.
In other words, there is a clear differential between salaries, expenses and allowances; sadly that differential is not adequately defined in the rules for MP’s, and that is why we have found ourselves in the mess we are now in.
The reason, in my opinion, is this: MPs have not received proper salary increases for a number of years, but expenses and allowances have been increased on the basis of an unwritten understanding that they can be used to supplement their salary. And therein lies the problem.
So what should we do?
Well, we need an independent body to set MPs salaries each year, and to define the rules with regard to expenditure and allowances much more clearly. We also need an independent accounting process to regularly define that claimed expenses fall within the remit of those finely defined rules. And finally, we need to be totally transparent about the publication of our expenses every year.
On a personal basis, I have never bought anything for my flat on expenses, I pay for the cleaning from my own pocket, and I have never claimed for any repairs or any structural maintenance. Oh, and I travel to and from London on standard class rail fare ticket.
In other words, I am immensely careful with taxpayers’ money and recognise how hard it is to earn.
I have, however, always employed the staff necessary to help me carry out my duties effectively. To date we have dealt with over 3,500 constituents’ problems since I became an MP four years ago. And I have always used my Communications allowance to keep in touch, and ensure that my constituents were fully aware of how to contact me, should the need arise
Of course, the business of the House of Commons has been carrying on as usual, and I took part in a debate on the Finance Bill (the Budget), speaking up in favour of cutting Corporation Tax by 3 per cent. The increase in corporate taxes for the small business sector is an outrage, and I was happy to tell the Government how I felt.
The small business sector is vital for the UK economy, as I say time after time. But the Government just doesn't get it - it does not understand that we need to have small businesses in situ to support the supply chains for our bigger plc companies. If they fail to survive, we lose that infrastructure.
For small businesses, cash is king. Especially when a bad debt of £2,000 can signal the end of a small company. The more the Government takes in corporation tax, the less chance small businesses have of surviving in these difficult times. As I say, the Goverment just doesn't get it.