THE Prime Minister’s decision to scrap plans for a daily “clocking-on fee” for MPs has left the whole issue of Parliamentary expenses in an even more shambolic state.

Gordon Brown announced the proposals on YouTube, apparently without consulting David Cameron or Nick Clegg.

It is no surprise that they refused to back the idea, leaving the Prime Minister with no choice but to drop his proposal.

Mr Brown has gone from YouTube to U-turn in less than a week.

As a result, the issue of MPs’ expenses has gone from bad to worse, underlining the growing perception that the Prime Minister is lacking authority.

Embarrassingly, he was even slapped down by Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the committee on standards in public life, who said he would investigate expenses as soon as possible – but not by the Prime Minister’s newly-suggested deadline of July.

We believe that this mess needs to be sorted out swiftly if public confidence can start to be rebuilt.

However, we are now at such a low ebb on this matter that it is also something which cannot be rushed.

The issue of MPs’ expenses has become so serious, and the damage it is doing to the public standing of our Parliamentarians so undermining, that it demands to be examined in the most thorough manner possible.

Sir Christopher has an unenviable task. But for the sake of democracy, he has to be given the time to come up with a solution that restores public confidence.