Expenses payback time: advice for cash-strapped MPs

From singing for your supper to getting down and dirty, help is at hand for politicians facing penury. Paul Lewis (KC 2000, Social and Political Sciences) takes a light-hearted look at the situation.

Strapped for cash after your Legg letter? Here are six tips for MPs on how to meet the repayments:

Remove duck island and place on eBay

Although there are currently none of the Stockholm duck islands that lured Sir Peter Viggers into his infamous "ridiculous and grave error of judgment" on the site, it's worth a punt. Buyers could be tempted to splash out on a secondhand anatine residence as they're pricey, costing £2,585 new. Viggers, who spent just £1,645 on his, looks like a bit of a bargain-hunter in hindsight.

And don't worry about the ducks: they're used to being stuck with awkward bills.

Take out a loan

If you need to borrow £2,000, Abbey offer a competitive rate and will lend you the money at an APR of 14.9%. You can pay it back over a year in instalments of £179.55 a month. That means a total charge of £2,154.60.

• Read the rest of the tips in The Guardian