One source of New York's troubles is a generally sound piece of Federal legislation, the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, that sought to harness market forces to reduce air pollution through a trading system for pollution allowances.
Second homes are a legitimate expense for M.P.s, who need to have a base in their constituencies as well as in London, but the system for claiming allowances had become lax, and was tacitly regarded as a legitimate way of boosting official pay.
Asked what the row was doing for the reputation of Parliament, Mr Lansley said "I don't think it helps" but insisted that the "discredited" system for claiming allowances in the last Parliament had been swept away.
For years, M.P.s, rather than vote themselves politically unpopular pay raises, had supplemented their basic pay with a generous system of allowances for employing staff and owning second homes.
A spokeswoman from Brighton and Hove Council said: "We are in the final weeks of the consultation with all staff on proposals to introduce a consistent, fair, affordable and open system of allowances for staff across the council.
Some kind of a system for an allowance is a good idea.
In the past that was possible only for corruption, violence or gross negligence.A baroque system of allowances (a special payment for handling decomposed bodies, for example) is being phased out.
Therefore the systems, the system of expenses, the system of allowances, these were not set up for women like me".
"The allowances system for the whole council will be published once the consultation is concluded".
"We are more than half way through a consultation period on an allowances system for staff across the council which is fair, consistent and affordable".
