LONDON: Labour MPs were accused of trying to break the rules to cling on to their seats - with mailshots sent at taxpayers’ expense.
The 19 MPs with the highest postage bills last year were all Labour, many with slim majorities.
Of those still in the Commons, the largest bill was run up by Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh, who sent 120,000 letters in 12 months - an average of 800 every day Parliament sat.
Her letter-writing cost the public £37,442 in stamps and a further £11,191 in stationery in the year to April.
She said she only wrote to voters she had met in person about subjects they were interested in.
All MPs are granted unlimited free postage for letters sent on parliamentary business but it is illegal for them to use it for party political purposes or to appeal for votes.
However, campaigners claimed that MPs were flouting the law by sending mass mailings to get their names better known among voters in the run-up to an election.
Taxpayers’ Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said: “Should taxpayers really cough up for constituency newsletters and mass mailings?
“Elections should be a level playing field, so taxpayers’ cash shouldn’t be used for party propaganda.”
As election fever gripped Westminster, postage costs among all 659 MPs leapt by 15% in 2004-05 compared with the previous financial year.
McDonagh won her seat in south-west London from the Tories in 1997 and has cultivated it ever since. She retained it in May with a reduced majority of 12,560.
Her office said she regularly wrote to voters about policing and the campaign to save St Helier hospital but only to individuals with an interest.
McDonagh said her usage was a reflection of how hard she worked.
She said: “I have lived in Mitcham and Morden all my life and I want to represent my constituents in a way that I always wanted the MPs before me to represent my constituency.
“I receive thousands of letters each week and write thousands of letters a week to keep people informed of important developments in the constituency and to help them with issues that matter to them.”
Her spokesman added: “I think Siobhain has met about 30,000 constituents in her elected role.
“I think you could say that these letters have all gone to people she has met and knows.” – London Evening Standard |
