We did it. Now over to you.
It was the cartoonist Matt who recently envisaged two MPs chatting, one telling the other that he'd "gone into politics to improve my living room".
If anyone is thinking of going into Assembly politics in future because their living room is looking a bit drab, they'd better think again.
The independent panel looking at salaries and allowances has spoken and its spoken very bluntly.
Bottom line? If the panel's package of 108 recommendations is adopted, then Assembly members will be accepting that any opportunity they had to make money beyond their salaries will be gone. I use the word 'opportunity' because here's another bottom line for you: Assembly members never did milk the system to the extent some of their colleagues in Westminster did - a point the panel made over and again.
They weren't that oblique in making it either: "We would merely note that the actions of some Members of Parliament regarding their expenses claims have reflected badly on politicians in general, and inevitably Assembly Members have been tarred with the same brush in the eyes of the public".
Still, the door to those who fancied a bit of extra cash, "a trip on the gravy train" as one of the security staff here put it angrily the other day, was ajar. Now it's slammed shut.
Second home allowance as we know it? Gone.
Food allowance? Gone.
Link between MPs' salaries and AMs' salaries? Gone.
Does the panel think Wesminster ought to follow in these very footsteps? Absolutely. Does Roger Jones think Christopher Kelly. looking into expenses and allowances in Westminster, ought to follow in these very footsteps? "I can't see as how he can avoid it" came the response.
If you expected a whitewash, you were wrong. It's anything but. It had to be if there was any chance of the public believing it really means things are changing.
The Assembly Commission meets tomorrow night. If it votes to accept the panel's recommendations - and at a bet, it will - then what a message for Westminster. We did it - your turn now.
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
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Well done to all involved for having the courage to do the right thing. But will Westminster follow?? Fat chance.....
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Betsan,
Are you able to tell us which 25 constituencies will qualify for rental payments for a second home after 2011? Plus what happens to those AMs presently locked into mortgage commitments for second homes who will not qualify in 2011? I assume its sell up or find it from your £52k?
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1. Maybe if the Telegraph didn't get all the dirt on our MP's in London the recommendations would have been less severe for our AM's.
2. We still haven't got all the details about AM's expenses since a lot of receipts etc have been redacted.
3. Well done though to Sir Roger.
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If the salary link with MP's is gone then what will the "benchmark" be in future?. The "old" axiom is true in that if you pay "peanuts" you get "monkeys".Surely we need less machine politicians of the old labour type as weve got in all parties,but rather some creative thinking of how to provide services to people at the excellent but practical level andat lowest costs to make best use of public money. Its interesting that many of blairites now out of power are thinking quite radically about provision of services as "ordinary" people like myself dont give a stuff who the provider is at the end of the day. If we are going to stay,or god forbid have worse quality of AM's because of ridiculous salary/benefits then we are surely on the way to a third world standard of public provision of services.
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Interesting to see our lot in Cardiff claimed (I nearly said fiddled) less than those in London.
Might this in part be down to the 'trickle down' effect of the old Welsh chapels through grandparents and mams and dads?
Maybe all that looking out the chapel window and seeing the devil outside had some effect after all.
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Well said Noah! At least we now know that the Assembly is a far better institution that that rotten pile up in London.
Remind me why we need to send MPs to London?
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The National Assembly always was more transparent than Westminster. I want AMs to be able to do the job, have the tools for the job, be paid a reasonable amount for the job they do and not to reliant on outside sources of income. Proper allowances to cover expenses occurred doing the job, as you would have in private industry and most of all for it all the be transparent and accessible to the public. I don't think most people would quibble with this. I haven't read all the recommendations but would imagine that the Assembly Commission will endorse this.
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#7 wrote The National Assembly always was more transparent than Westminster
When it suited, transparency is not just about funding, its about honesty in governance, there is little freedom of information where it suits the unholy alliance.
It is good to see Lyn_Thomas agreeing with the Unionists where he writes Proper allowances .... as you would have in private industry.
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8 What have 'Unionists' got to do with 'private industry'??
Personally I belive in Independence AND private industry (but following the European Christian Democrat model - not the Thatcherite Conservative one)
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In private industry you would not be expected to pay for your own stationery or for the running of your office. That is what I meant, some have suggested that AMS should pay the whole of their costs out of their own pockets, which is untenable. I don't think this is a Unionist/Nationalist issue, its one of properly funding democracy and enabling our representatives to do their jobs - properly resourced and properly rewarded. Not enriched at our expense and not starved of funds to do the job.
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Herbert
The details are here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/wales_politics/8133295.stm - including a link to the report itself but essentially, you only get to claim the second home allowance if you live outside Glamorgan/Gwent. I gather it's fair to say that the Conservatives, who met last night, have accepted the proposals. The Liberal Democrats had already decided to accept them come what may, so the attitude of the Labour and Plaid groups will be crucial. Roger Jones set off for home last night and was joking, I'm sure, when he said that his next job would be to check his fire insurance ...
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We should be pleased that AMs have more of a sense of public duty than MPs who I believe have become corrupted by the lure of second incomes which included expenses and city jobs.
However, there is worse below the surface in the form of expenses paid to public servants who work for public bodies funded by Quangos who fool the public into thinking there is regulation when in fact it does not exist.
The best deterrent against crime is the likelihood of being caught, on the other hand there is the old adage that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
In that respect it is blatantly obvious that Quangos have been used to keep sleaze at arms length from government, and in turn they are protected by law from any sort of public scrutiny or complaint. The result is absolute corruption with no fear of being caught, and even if are, they simply tell lies as nobody has the authority to do anything about it anyway.
Its not a Unionist/Nationalist issue but a common decency issue concerning public figures who do not know what it means.
The test for AMs will be whether or not the new rules on expenses should apply to others, what powers do they need to take a corrupt elite, and is Westminster who created the problem going to let them do it?
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11 3/4 of Plaid's AMs will continue to be able to claim second home allowance so I am sure that they will agree these proposals. But half of Labour AMs will take a big hit so expect them to make most noise.
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HerbertDavies:
I believe that the 25 AMs who will now qualify for rental allowances in Cardiff will be all those in the Mid & West Wales and North Wales regions. None of those living in any of the South Wales regions will now be able to claim (stretching from Monmouth over to the Gower), which is the way it should be.
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I don't understand why, if the Daily Telegraph was so concerned about MPs claims they didn't make the Wales report front page news. It makes one think they are not interested in suggestions which might resolve the problem, just selling papers with stories of duck houses and receipts for biscuits! Or could it be that they just can't comprehend that Wales might be ahead of the game.
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