Brown must seize the initiative on expenses

First it was Government ministers who underwent the humiliation of having their expenses exposed to public view. Now it is the Tories' turn, with the publication today of details of their claims.

There is fun to be had from the hasty repayment of £4.47 for dog food from Cheryl Gillian, shadow Welsh Secretary, or of a claim for £34.99 for a baby mattress from the shadow schools secretary, Michael Gove.

But David Cameron, Tory leader, is right: this is "another bad day for parliament and, frankly, a bad day for the Conservative party".

The furore has brought a sense of crisis to Parliament unlike any previous scandal over sleaze. At stake is the legitimacy of the Commons itself.

It is suddenly apparent that the political culture has become shockingly remote from voters. Changing that culture must be the priority.

That will not be easy or quick. The proposals for a new, independent auditing body will take time to put into operation. And it is starting to look as if the new body could itself be a way of suppressing future revelations.

Voters' wrath will not be easily calmed because of the sheer scale of the greed. Particularly egregious is MPs' flexibility about identifying their primary home, in order to claim mortgage interest and other expenses on other homes, a move that has introduced a new verb to the political lexicon: "flipping".

The amounts involved - millionaire Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward claimed £100,000 in mortgage interest - are beyond the dreams of most voters.

Until now ministers have done little to win back respect with their reactions to the revelations, ranging from selfrighteous outrage about the Conservative press (Lord Mandelson) to the limp assertion that it was all within the rules (Harriet Harman et al).

The former merely looks peevish; the latter, while technically correct, ignores the fact that MPs themselves largely created the present rules.

In a speech today, the Prime Minister is expressing some humility. More importantly, he needs to agree an urgent timetable for reform.

There is a case for drastically simplifying the system. Already the row has damaged Mr Brown: polls suggest the outlook for Labour at next month's European and local elections is dire. More is at stake than the Government's credibility - that of our whole system of political representation.

The Pope begins the most sensitive part of his pilgrimage to the Middle East with his visit today to Israel. He has already criticised the manipulation of religion by extremists for political ends.

In no context is this problem more relevant than in respect of the Palestinian issue. There are religious sensitivities about the status of Jerusalem, which plainly should reflect its importance to three great religions.

But the pre-eminent issue is the necessity of an equitable two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians as a means of allowing stable coexistence between them and Israel's other neighbours.

The US President, Barack Obama, is holding talks this week with the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, on his proposals for a peace deal, which would be brokered by the King of Jordan. The stakes could not be higher. Given all this, the visit of the Pope to Israel as a pilgrim is beneficial.

He has offered the services of Christians to the peace process; more importantly, he brings a reminder of the moral and spiritual case for lasting peace in the region.

The Robert Clack school in Dagenham, winner of an Evening Standard schools award this year, has a deprived catchment area - yet it has produced extraordinary exam results.

And as we report today, its pupils have also achieved great sporting and stage success.

This can squarely be attributed to the disciplined regime introduced by its head, Paul Grant: better school results start at the top.