Why can't they get it right?

Several Labour MPs have said to Lobbydog that they think Brown’s expenses proposals – particularly the daily allowance – are cr*p.

What could have been an attempt to sort the issue out is now in chaos. In part that’s because the proposals themselves are flawed.

But it’s also because the announcement was a political move. The will to push proposals appeared out of nowhere at what might have been a fortuitous moment in the news cycle.

As it is, the move seems to be backfiring after it was jointly dumped by the other two parties and is now being rejected by Labour members.

It will now lengthen the list of half-baked attempts to pay lip service to public anger over expenses.