It's a grim time to be an employment minister with unemployment figures at two million. When Tony McNulty went on Newsnight, he appeared moved almost to tears by the plight of Tina Owen, who described how her life had been ruined by losing her job at Woolworth's. The Employment Minister admitted that he could never live on £60.50 a week. At the time he seemed honest and endearing. This man understood these people's pain.

Now we learn that his second-home allowance alone could pay the salaries of a few employees. Mr McNulty has been claiming expenses for a second house - nothing wrong with that when you are an MP - except that both houses are in London, one in Hammersmith about 25 minutes from the House of Commons, the other only eight miles away in his constituency of Harrow East, 40 minutes from Westminster by Tube. The Harrow home just happens to be lived in by his parents, and Mr McNulty, a dutiful son, says he pops in regularly. While he is chatting to his mum and dad over a cup of tea, he evidently also does a bit of constituency work, even though his office is round the corner.

“It's a bit odd,” he admitted when asked why he had claimed more than £60,000 for his parent's house in the past few years. “It's not against the rules...Everyone does it.”

They don't. It may be OK to use the odd Pritt Stick, notepad or Biro, but most employees don't take more than they need. MPs on the other hand do. They claim for a box full of Biros and a top-of-the-range Mont Blanc pen every year. Mr McNulty doesn't need or use his second home. At least the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, actually stayed with her sister during the week.

The problem for many MPs is that they consider £63,291 a year a paltry amount for what they do (even with 18 weeks holiday a year). But because they can't vote themselves a pay increase, particularly when so many others are losing their jobs, they choose to abuse their allowances instead.

Mr McNulty is not alone. Derek Conway employed his two student sons as researchers but couldn't point to any work that they had done. Michael Trend had to pay back £90,000 after fiddling his second-home allowance. When benefits claimants play the system they face a jail sentence.

In November Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, gave a speech to the Hansard Society lamenting the “disengagment, cynicism and despair” of voters; she blamed political bloggers and the commentariat. But it's MPs such as Mr McNulty who are the real culprits.

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