David Cameron is quite right in his speech today, dubbed cutting the cost of politics, to highlight the communications allowance. This is £10,000 given to each MP to communicate with their constituents. No bad thing in itself, but as Cameron points out, it is nothing more than state sponsored propaganda. The intention of the Labour government who introduced this allowance was clear from the start, to help their own MPs hold onto their seats. In reality the cost of communicating with the public has come down. New media make it easier, quicker and (most importantly in this case) cheaper. The are also plenty of community newsletters that would welcome contributions from their MPs. Of course politicians at all levels should promote themselves, it is part of a healthy democracy and furthers public discourse, but politicians should raise their own funds for this, not look to the tax payer to fund it.