taimatsu | MPs expenses furore (Reply)

I'm terribly confused about why MPs are falling over themselves to repay chunks of their expenses claims to save their reputations. Surely the damage is already done, in that they are shown to be the kind of people who would work the system to its fullest extent and claim for things they ought to have known most ordinary people would think unreasonable? It's not the amounts that bother me so much as the sense that these people felt it was ok to claim for swimming pool this and garden pergola that, and are still saying "it was within the rules" rather than "I shouldn't have claimed for that as it was not honestly essential to my accommodation as an MP."

Anyone got any insights?