I cannot understand the reluctance of my local MP, David Amess, to talk to my local newspaper regarding his expenses claims.

I thought politicians nowadays were all for transparency when it came to such issues.

After all, we’re all in it together, aren’t we?

If memory serves me correctly, on a previous occasion when an Echo reporter asked Mr Amess for his slant on MPs’ expenses, he was unavailable for comment due to a prior appointment in a women’s hair salon.

Personally, I have always found Mr Amess quite accommodating when questioned on various issues. Just recently, when I e-mailed him asking how he would vote on the EU reform issue, he replied courteously, almost by return post, with a 100-page Hansard report and a nice letter explaining why he abstained.

I have sent him yet another e-mail asking if he could have a word in Theresa May’s shell-like, to pass on the concerns of some of us UK residents about wholesale unchecked entry into our island by any Tom, Dick or Harry through lax border controls.

I also asked him to talk to the Echo about his expenses claims, even if it is inconvenient.

Trevor Murdin
Flemming Crescent
Leigh