Three times post average (From Gazette Series)

Three times post average

SIR - Visiting the Houses of Parliament website is always interesting. With the recent publications of MPs' expenses it becomes required reading for anyone with even a minimal interest in how our representatives spend our money and perform their duties. Our MP, David Drew, provides a good example.

At first sight he seems to be doing all right. As any businessman will confirm, budgets are there to be spent. Underspending is as bad as overspending; it means you are under-using your resources, you are not doing your job properly. In major areas David Drew is bang on budget; staff, office costs and staying away. That's good, it indicates he is working at full capacity. He's being a good constituency MP or is he?

Last year he spent £10,500 on postage, that's about three times the average! Put another way, over 41,000 first-class letters! Now I'm pretty democratically aware and I can't remember the last time I wrote to my MP and I wonder how many of your readers can. One recalls his letter to all council house tenants, recommending they vote against the housing transfer. Overtly party political interference in strictly non-Parliamentary business. How much more of this sort of self-serving activity are we paying for?

Mr Drew should reassure us that this money, our money, is being spent on legitimate constituency business and not party political mailings. Otherwise he could be open to the charge of abuse of office.

Graham Bartlett, Chestal, Dursley