LETTER TO THE PAPER - MP EXPENSES

1.24.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 1st Jul 2009

Stephen has written a letter to the local papers with his view on the issue of MPs expenses. See the text of the letter below:

Dear Sir,

I find it as shocking as anyone else does that some MPs have been caught with their hands in the till. From moats to duck houses and phantom mortgages it's clearly wrong and people should be angry. They've let us all down.

As a Parliamentary Candidate I don't get any salary or any expenses. I work three days a week to cover my rent and petrol and food, and then spend the other 4 days knocking on doors. I do it because I care about Cornwall and what happens here.

Where the law has been broken or the rules stretched it's simply not good enough for MPs to fall over themselves writing cheques to the Treasury - they should face criminal charges and explain themselves in court. You or I would have to

I want to be very clear that, if I'm elected, I'll never claim any expenses for food, never pay for a mortgage with taxpayer's money, never boost my income with another job or consultancy, and will publish my expenses as soon as they are made.

Frankly, I think that's the least we should expect from our MPs.

Yours,

Stephen Gilbert

Prospective Lib Dem MP

St Austell & Newquay