Political reform is about much more than MPs expenses

The Kelly report today may just about prove the beginning of the end in sorting out the long-running MPs' expenses saga. But the calls for a 'new politics' were always about much more than Parliamentary perks, terms and conditions.

So the ippr today publishes a well-timed collection bringing together contributions from seven different think-tanks to make the case for a broader democratic renewal, which was launched with an event with Justice Minister Michael Wills this morning.

My piece is titled 'Anti-politics and the crisis', which opens with the thought that:

'As a crisis of politicians, and an indictment of a political class, the expenses scandal has been widely welcomed , often exuberantly celebrated. As a crisis of boring old politics, we seem to have barely tried to get to grips with it at all'.

This new collection is one useful effort to bring together those from different parts of the political spectrum who, whatever our differences of view on specific reforms, agree that the response must not be a return to 'politics as usual'. The whole collection, which includes contributions - from CentreForum, Demos, the Fabian Society, ippr, Policy Exchange, Progress and Reform - can be downloaded from the ippr website.