66.6 -- The Real Nature of the Beast Three hundred and sixty-six Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs claimed between 20,000 and 23,083 (the maximum) in Additional Costs Allowances (ACA) last year which just happens to work out at 66.6 (recurring) percent of MPs from the 3 main parties. Make of the three sixes what you will, but it does make a rather convenient point: the big problem with MPs expenses has not been the petty claims for ridiculous things but the big claims for housing -- for these 366 MPs amounting to around 9m last year. Most of these 366 MPs have opted for the "Cameron Option" -- claiming at or near the full allowance for a mortgage and utility bills on a 2 nd home. In Conservative Leader David Cameron's case he's thereby managed to claim 82,450 over 5 years for his Oxfordshire home. His explanation is interesting: "Yes, I do claim quite a lot of money for that, I have always tried to arrange my affairs so the whole family goes from London and then down to the constituency and back again -- I find that's the right way to keep my family together and yes, that does mean we have two houses of a certain size." ( Guardian website ). Very nice too. When I first started working at Manchester Business School three years ago I spent a year commuting to Manchester from our family home in Tamworth and sleeping in MBSs hotel rooms. MBS helped