Cameron cleans the stables, but the stench remains

David Cameron tried to clean out the Tory stables today, but there is a big stench left behind over the abuse of expenses. The Tory leader read the riot act to his own MPs and warned them to cooperate with a new internal Tory scrutiny committee about paying back some of their expenses or face de-selection and losing the Conservative whip.

But while some of Cameron's team are being forced to set an example by paying back large sums, other Tories still appear to be making a mockery of the public outrage. The Marquess of Lothian, Michael Ancram - who once nursed ambitions to be the Tory leader and who is worth an estimated £27 million - claimed £14,000 a year in expenses, according to the information leaked to the Daily Telegraph. But he announced today that he will be giving back only £95 - for swimming pool maintenance.

Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, will have to repay £7,000 claimed in five months for furnishing a London property before 'flipping' his second home designation to one in Surrey. But we know from the Telegraph that he then claimed £13,000 in stamp duty on the country property - and, on that, Cameron was silent.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, will pay back the £2,600 he claimed for redecorating his second home with premium paint and reshingling the driveway. But Lansley then 'flipped' his second home designation to a Georgian flat in London, where he claimed for thousands of pounds in furnishings - and Cameron appears to have allowed Lansley to keep most of this money.

Things should be clearer in the future - at least on the Tory benches - because Cameron set out four further measures which would be introduced for Tory MPs with immediate effect:

• A requirement to publish expense claims on the internet as they are made; this applies to shadow cabinet members initially, and later to all Tory MPs

• A ban on the practice of 'flipping' - the changing of an MP's designated second home in order to maximise income from expenses

• A requirement to pay capital gains tax on the sale of any property for which mortgage interest payments have been paid with taxpayers' money

• A total ban on making any claims for furniture, household goods and food.

There's no sign of the Government matching those measures yet, though Gordon Brown has ordered an inquiry to see how MPs of all parties might pay back money claimed excessively. He pushed Harriet Harman in front of the microphones today to announce a committee of scrutiny, set up by the House.

Labour MP Margaret Moran, one of the most blatant allowance abusers exposed by the Telegraph, has already said she will repay the £22,500 she claimed for treating dry rot at her 'second home' in Southampton - 100 miles away from her Luton South constituency.

But it remains unclear whether Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, will be forced to pay to the taxman the capital gains tax she avoided when she sold her second home - a London flat - at a profit of £45,000.