THE BBC has a House of Commons Parliament channel that records and transmits the chamber’s business.

Whenever I tune into it in office hours, apart from Prime Minister’s Question Time or the Queen’s Speech, it is practically deserted with maybe ten or 20 MPs discussing some Bill or other. The later into the evening, the emptier it becomes.

To back up their housing expenses claims quite a few MPs complain about their late-night travel problems from Parliament, which contradicts their late-night House of Commons attendance claims.

If there are only an average of ten MPs in attendance in the evenings it means the other 635 MPs are absent so their average evening attendance is once every 63 working days and as they have 128 days a year off it is not even that.

“You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

JT Onslow Brunswick Square Hove