Gerri Peev: Is Cameron on the mummy?

David Cameron's response to Julie Kirkbride's resignation is interesting. He seems to be trying to push the mummy buttons by agreeing that he hoped more women would not be put off entering parliament by the expenses scandal.

"It is also extremely important that part of that reform should include better ways of enabling women to combine the roles of politician and mother."

This could spectacularly backfire, not least because the majority of parents, let alone working mothers, do not ask their employers to subsidise their childcare arrangements.

If anyone can afford a nanny or an extension to house their au pair, it should be an MP who has claimed £170,000 in living expenses over the last four years.

Margaret Moran, the Luton MP who was forced to quit over her home flipping and her claims for dry rot treatment on her partner's house, which is 100 miles away from her constituency, also tried to pull the female martyr card.

She said she had to work hard and needed to spend time with her partner. Welcome to the real world. Most people struggle to juggle. Perhaps her partner could have shown some support by moving to London or her constituency.

There was talk at Westminster some time ago of installing a creche at the site of the underground shooting range that still exists beneath the Sport's and Social Bar. It was vetoed.

With talk of MPs being "suicidal" over the expenses furore, we can now understand why.