There can be no going back to the bad old days of expenses

David Cameron was quick today to offer his “warm support” to Maria Miller – his Culture Secretary who was ordered to apologise for her attitude to the investigation into her expenses – before telling us we should “leave it there”.  For the Prime Minister to declare the matter closed highlights how out-of-touch he is with hard-working people.

Every week on the doorstep people tell me that they do not trust MPs. I was not in Parliament in 2009, but five years on the expenses scandal continues to entrench cynicism and suspicion in politicians.

In his first speech as Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street, David Cameron said:  “One of the tasks that we clearly have is to rebuild trust in our political system. Yes, that’s about cleaning up expenses, yes, that’s about reforming parliament, and yes, it’s about making sure people are in control and that the politicians are always their servants and never their masters”.

I couldn’t agree more. But when David Cameron and his advisers declare a matter closed when there are clearly still questions to answer, I wonder whether the Prime Minister really has any idea how that comes across to people like my constituents in Newcastle. It is yet another example of how Cameron only looks after his one of his own and always stands up for the wrong people.

Before getting his feet under the table in Downing Street, David Cameron used to say that not only should you comply with the rules, but you should be able to defend yourself to a reasonable person. Any reasonable person looking at this situation will see that the independent, non-partisan Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards came to the conclusion that Maria Miller broke the rules and her actions “resulted in the inappropriate use of public money”. She recommended that Miller should pay back £45,000. However the final amount repaid was £5,800 after a committee of MPs overturned that ruling.

It was perhaps fitting then that Miller’s apology for only doing the bare minimum to explain herself took just 30 seconds to read out, flanked by supportive Cabinet Ministers. Today, David Cameron and his aides have indulged in the remarkable spectacle of declaring the matter closed, but then emailing television presenters live on air when the story started slipping away from them.

It is no wonder people despair of our political process with behaviour like that.

Letting Maria Miller off the hook speaks volumes about David Cameron’s leadership. His weakness and double standards on the issue of Maria Miller’s expenses are totally unacceptable and completely out-of-touch.

The Prime Minister should hold himself to his own standards if we are to truly start rebuilding trust in politics. We must have the very highest standards in public office. There can be no going back to the bad old days of expenses.

Chi Onwurah is a Shadow Cabinet Office Minister