As well as staff allowances, MEPs are able to earn up to £91,000 a year in "daily subsistence" and "general expenditure" expenses without having to provide any receipts or proof of expenditure – a practice that would not be tolerated in Westminster. The per diem payment is known as "sign in and slope off" among the more cynical MEPs, and is notorious for allowing them to pocket the money without staying in the EU assembly, or even Brussels, to do any work.