Who will pay the price for British expenses scandal?

British politicians are facing intense criticism after newspaper revelations about their extensive expenses claims at a time when the country is suffering its worst recession since World War II.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised on behalf of all politicians on Monday after days of embarrassing headlines about members of Parliament claiming expenses for everything from home repairs to basic goods.

How have the claims come to light?

Members of Parliament were preparing for the publication in July of their expenses claims under Freedom of Information legislation.

The right-leaning Telegraph group pre-empted this after it acquired a disc containing the data and has been running revelations since Friday. It focused on the ruling Labour party for the first three days before switching to the opposition Conservatives on Monday.

What's the flipping fuss about?

The newspaper has shown that some MPs have regularly changed the designation of their second home - a practice known as "flipping" - to take full advantage of a £24,000 allowance.

The basic salary for an MP is just under €65,000.

But MPs have also been condemned both for the extravagance and pettiness of their claims - clawing back thousands of pounds spent on gardening and home furnishings, as well as claiming for the smallest of items such as dog food.

Will heads roll?

In the short term, probably not. The headlines are bad, but MPs appear to have stayed within their own rules in what they have claimed. MPs from all sides say the system is flawed and have promised to step up efforts to reform it.

However, some political commentators say that MPs seen to have the most lavish expenses risk losing their seats in an election due by mid-2010. They draw parallels with the sleaze rows that dogged the last days of John Major's Conservative government in the mid-1990s before a whole class of politicians was swept from power by a Labour landslide in 1997.

What's the political impact?

The Telegraph reports focused on the ruling Labour party on Friday and over the weekend, before switching to the opposition Conservatives on Monday. A poll at the weekend showed support for Labour at a record low of 23 per cent, with the Conservatives on 45 per cent.

Labour, as the party in power, risks being hardest hit but all parties say the reports have damaged the reputation of Parliament and politics in general.

Local and European elections will be held on June 4 and angry Britons could react in one of two ways - by not voting at all in elections that normally suffer poor turnout, or by switching to fringe parties. The anti-EU UK Independence Party took almost 15 per cent of the vote in 2004 European elections. The far-right British National Party is looking to win a European seat for the first time.

How will labour respond?

A bad showing for Labour could raise further questions about whether Mr Brown is the right man to lead the party into the general election, although a change at the top is seen as unlikely at this late stage in the electoral cycle.

Mr Brown is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet after the vote, with interior minister Jacqui Smith and communities and local government Minister Hazel Blears seen facing demotion after being caught up in the expenses row.