I can't be the only person perplexed by the inability of MPs - and the relevant Commons' authorities - to sort out the issue of their expenses.

There has been a steady trickle of stories about second homes allowances recently, with employment minister Tony McNulty now facing a few awkward questions about his claim for his occasional use of his parents' north London house while working.

Why is it that reforms that are clearly needed and long overdue taking so long? You would have thought MPs would have cottoned on to the fact they need to do something after failing to block detailed information about their expenses being released. As we speak, officials in the House of Commons are busy scanning in something like a million documents which will eventually reveal all about who has claimed for what.

Mr McNulty has resorted to the now standard excuse of a politician being caught out by saying that he has not broken any of the rules around allowances. In the same breath, he makes a call for the same rules allowing MPs to claim second home allowances to be scrapped but omits to explain why, if he regards the rules as flawed, it took him so long to speak out about it.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has initiated a "review" which, as everyone knows, is the standard ploy when you want to kick a potentially tricky issue which might be causing you and your party some embarrassment into the long grass.

I daresay the review will come up with all sorts of recommendations and suggestions.

But precisely when?

The real problem is that the solution may be to pay our MPs more than the £60,000+ they currently get and scrap their allowances altogether, something the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Labour MP Derek Wyatt believes is a possible solution.

But exactly how do you sell that proposition to an already jaundiced and somewhat cynical electorate?