Finally, MPs are starting to realise how big a deal the expenses scandal is - Telegraph.co.uk (blog)

Any morning when the Daily Telegraph has a big expenses story on its front page, I like to take a stroll around the Palace of Westminster and get beaten up by MPs. It's a habit I got into in 2009 at the height of the original expenses scandal.

Then, some of the conversations I had with members were downright hostile: swearing and other forms of aggression were not uncommon. A few of the angriest members in 2009 remain furious and make no secret of their belief that this newspaper did the wrong thing in revealing their claims.

Over time, though, that anger has faded – a bit. Some MPs are still unhappy about coverage of expenses: "Pathetic" and "usual Telegraph rubbish" are two of the more printable thoughts I've been offered in recent hours.

Still, things have definitely changed since 2009. Instead of denying it, some MPs are painfully aware of the perception problem they have over expenses.

One member this morning highlighted the expenses claims being made by one of his colleagues, suggesting that public anger about that was entirely justified.

Another told me he thought it was "bloody ridiculous" that some of his fellow members own one flat which they let out while claiming expenses to rent another, something that is currently entirely legitimate under Ipsa rules. "I know it's in the rules, but it just looks awful," he said.

More than one MP also accepted that John Bercow and friends have only done harm by trying to keep details of landlords and rest secret. They realise that when it comes to expenses, anything that looks like a cover-up is simply poisonous.

Ipsa remains deeply unpopular with MPs, of course – one sci-fi fixated MP half-jokingly compares it to the Empire in Star Wars, wondering if Sir Ian Kennedy is building a Death Star to obliterate wayward members. Others accuse the expenses watchdog of deliberately creating bad headlines about MPs.

But whose fault is Ipsa? One MP said that members had to accept that in many ways, they made the rod of their own backs with their response to the original scandal. "I don't blame the media. I blame our leaders. We all rushed to exploit this [in 2009] and outdo each other. The result was Ipsa and its stupid rules."

In essence, this MP said, MPs helped create the current toxic cocktail of flawed expenses rules, official secrecy and public mistrust, so it is for MPs to resolve the problem.

This is all anecdotal and patchy, of course, but given the amount of "they-still-don't-get-it" invective directed at MPs, I feel I should report that actually, some of them are starting to get it.

Some therapists talk about five stages of grief: denial; anger; bargaining; depression; acceptance. It's been a long road, but on expenses, some MPs are starting to reach the end of that process.