IS IT just my imagination or did John Penrose really say that he was saving tax-payers money by claiming over �50,000 in mortgage interest payments spread over three years (plus council tax and service charges) on a new London home instead of claiming a f

IS IT just my imagination or did John Penrose really say that he was saving tax-payers money by claiming over �50,000 in mortgage interest payments spread over three years (plus council tax and service charges) on a new London home instead of claiming a few hundred pounds in council tax payments on the London home he already had before becoming a MP

I understand that, because he already had a home in London for which he was already paying council tax, water rates, etc. when elected to Parliament, he probably felt that it would be hard to justify claiming the cost of running this home as expenses incurred because of having to move closer to the House of Commons to serve as a MP.

His solution, sell the home he already owned and buy another fractionally closer to Westminster so he could then claim to have moved closer and therefore claim everything he would have paid out of his own pocket for his first London home plus the mortgage interest payments for his new London home. If he believes that this is saving the tax-payer money I would suggest that he go back to primary school to learn basic arithmetic.

In the current economic climate, the blame for which as far as British banks are concerned can be placed directly on Maggie Thatcher's endorsement of the greed culture of the 1980s in the City money markets, it is totally unjustifiable for MPs to act so immorally, even if they are acting 'within the letter of the rules'.

I would suggest that MPs of all parties who have made claims that cannot be totally justified as necessary to carry out their duties in Parliament should be forced to resign, without being able to claim a pension from the House of Commons, and barred from standing for political office ever again.

D M GLASSOCK

Uphill Road North

Weston