SO! Is it the biggest rip-off since the poll tax or is it a poor pittance for the time and effort that MPs put into working for the people?

It's hard luck on Peter Pike to turn up as one of the Top Four. Or is it?

£153,989 seems a lot of money when added to an MPs salary of £57,000.

But it's not all "take home pay". As always the devil, or perhaps the angel, lies in the detail. Peter spent £71,500 of his allowances on his staff (including travel).

Gordon Prentice spent about £63,000 on his. Janet Anderson in Rossendale and Darwen, and Nigel Evans in Ribble Valley, spent about the same on staff as Peter.

Perhaps we should ask - is Gordon underspending? Surely employing people to help constituents and do research is a good thing?

Not so long ago MPs had no more than a secretary, and MPs such as Sydney Silverman in Nelson and Colne lived in or near London and paid a handful of visits to their voters each year. Now people expect to see their MP on their doorstep.

So travel costs have to be paid. But again there's that worrisome detail: £14,000 for Gordon but twice that for Nigel. No doubt there are reasons.

Having these figures should lead not to instant horror stories but to probing value-for-money questions about who claims what and why.

We read about London MPs getting their mortgages paid for second homes in Westminster, and one MP spending £40,000 on postage and stationery. So more power to the media to root out the facts.

Just one thought though. In this new era of open information and codes of conduct, how about declaration of interests - and disclosure of expenses - for journalists? Not least for those editors of the national tabloids!

No chance. But surely these are public figures with much more influence than mere backbench politicians?

And yes, the list of expenses for members of the House of Lords is also out! I find that having me in the Lords cost the taxpayer just under £24,000 in the last accounting year.

You can see how much peers claimed (no salaries, just allowances when we turn up) on the parliament website. But I tell you one thing - the Lords may be an eccentric anachronism but it's the cheapest legislative assembly in the developed world!