LONDON, England (UK) -- Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has apologized on behalf of parliamentarians of all parties for a series of revelations about their expenses claims, revelations which have seriously damaged the authority of government and parliament.



UK PM Gordon Brown, pictured here in north-east England Monday, apologized Monday on behalf of all lawmakers.



Brown's words have been echoed by David Cameron, the leader of the opposition Conservatives and currently the favorite to win the next general election by a large margin. Cameron acknowledges all MPs must say sorry and that the whole system must be changed.



The scandal has come to light because The Daily Telegraph newspaper obtained copies of all the receipts for MPs expenses, which were due to be published in two months time under Freedom of Information legislation. The newspaper has been devoting several pages every day to the details of how the system has been milked, with MPs claiming that expenditure on bath plugs and lawn mowers, silk cushions and television sets, potted plants and dog food, was "wholly and necessarily incurred for the purpose of performing their parliamentary duties." Do you think politicians in your country are paid enough?



In Britain, as in many other countries, parliamentarians are compensated for the expense of living both in the parts of the country they represent and in the capital where parliament meets. There is help too with travel costs and staffing their offices.



But the so-called "additional costs allowance," designed to help them with the additional costs of a second home has, by common consent, been particularly abused. This is not an "expenses scandal" about a couple of notepads and pens taken home from the office stationery cupboard for the kids' school project; or the annual phone call to an aged aunt in Australia, made on an office line rather than from home -- although doubtless politicians will have been doing that too.  Watch more on the expenses row »



We are talking about the deliberate exploitation of a poorly-policed system by a large number of parliamentarians, who appear to many of their constituents to have come close to enriching themselves corruptly at public expense.



There is particular horror at the practice which has emerged of so-called "flipping." MPs have, in a number of cases, designated one residence as their second home for the purpose of the allowance. Having drawn heavily on public funds for redecorating, refurbishing and refurnishing it, they have then switched and named a different house or flat -- only to do the same with that. In some cases they have sold these properties on for a significant profit.



I spent more than 30 years at Westminster as a political correspondent. Much of my time off duty was spent explaining to skeptical neighbors, barbers and taxi drivers that MPs did a much better job than outsiders thought. I knew and respected MPs whom I saw imperil their health or their marriages or their bank balances by working extremely hard on behalf of their constituents. I argued constantly that we underpaid our politicians.



Now, when I hear them call each other "honorable members" I am constantly reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson's dictum: "The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted the spoons."



The truth is that the good ones are still underpaid. They could earn far more outside the House of Commons. But the poor ones are overpaid -- and sadly there is no way of differentiating between the two categories.



It was never the right time, certainly in the eyes of the media, for MPs to have a decent pay rise; and they never had the guts to stand up and argue their case. So parliamentarians instead built themselves, while nobody was watching, a generous and poorly policed expenses system which allowed them to make up the difference between what they got and what they thought they should be paid.



What they seem unable to grasp, even now, is that in picking taxpayers' pockets by subterfuge they have all but destroyed parliament's moral authority. Cynically, they have led us all into a "help yourself to what you can get" mockery of public service which may
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question: What PM apologized on behalf of parliament., answer: Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown | question: Who did Gordon Brown apologize on behalf of?, answer: parliamentarians | question: Who is the PM of UK?, answer: Gordon Brown | question: Who is UK's PM?, answer: Gordon Brown | question: Who have been accused of over-milking the system?, answer: MPs | question: Who has apologized on behalf of parliamentarians ?, answer: Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown | question: What are UK lawmakers accused of?, answer: picking taxpayers' pockets by subterfuge