[michaelt]

I can understand expecting MPs to live in their constituency, and also that they need some London accommodation. If you're proposing it could work like a university halls of residence, I agree with that. My thinking with a per diem is any change would need MPs support, and they'd go for a per diem more easily than a cut in their benefits, however deserved it may be.

The origin of paying MPs was in the Chartist movement [1] - back when MPs were unpaid, no-one who relied on a salary to feed their family could get into parliament; only rich landowners who didn't have to work for their income could afford to be MPs. The intent of paying MPs is to allow working class and middle class people to stand for election.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartism