MP ANDREW Smith bares all today.

Every penny of taxpayers’ money he has spent on his home in London over a four-year period has been published for all to see.

For that, we applaud him.

The MPs’ expenses row has shocked the nation and brought the House of Commons into disrepute like no other scandal in recent history, and it is right Mr Smith should be credited for recognising the need for transparency at this time.

He did not simply dump a file of receipts at our offices, but collated and tallied all his claims so it was absolutely clear how much he had spent and on what.

He was candid – and has done more than many of his parliamentary colleagues to show that he has nothing to hide.

But would he have volunteered to disclose his claims had The Daily Telegraph not broken the story? Of course not.

As he says, he was not acting illegally when he claimed £8,960 for food and £5,650 for a new bathroom.

Moreover, he believes some claims adhered to both the spirit and letter of the rules.

But the cat is out of the bag. An outmoded, unfair and corrupt system has been exposed, and he has rightly confessed as to how he has prospered from it.

It is tempting to say Mr Smith’s claims are not shocking by some MPs’ standards.

But perhaps it is simply a measure of just how badly MPs have been behaving, to think that claiming £70,000 of taxpayers’ money to pay for food, utility bills and mortgage payments is acceptable.

As Mr Smith recognises, it is time for a complete overhaul of the expenses system. We will let our readers judge whether his claims were justified.