Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

Dear Mark Thompson and Will Straw,
I read your joint blogpost last week on Mark Reckons and Left Foot Forward about whether the MPs with the safest seats are the worst expenses claimants with some interest.  The original suggestion of a link came several months ago on Mark’s blog and it certainly provoked discussion in various political channels.  However, on [...]

“The authority and legitimacy of the fees office was much less than seems to have been realised by most MPs at the time. These officials were not civil servants with an independent duty to, and accountability for, the public purse. They were servants of the House and, while of course supposed to observe and apply [...]

Dear Sir Thomas Legg,
A few months ago, I wrote to you complaining that the expenses crackdown had become a farce.  The legality of your actions was debatable, your retrospective imposition of laws was questionable and you missed out on some major expenses cheats through your box-ticking approach.  The news yesterday that a Liberal Democrat MP who was ordered by you to pay [...]

Dear Harriet Harman,
After the thoroughly pointless Queen’s Speech just a few weeks back, it seems that you have already changed your mind about how to crackdown on dodgy expenses claims from MPs.  While the headlines today are all about belltowers, Sky TV, porn movies, domestic servants, garlic peelers, air beds and hamburger machines, the complete failure [...]

Dear Sir Thomas Legg,
While motivated by a combination of good intentions and public anger, it is clear that your crackdown on MP expenses is now descending into farce.  Although your demands have been far from unreasonable in the eyes of the public, it has been done in such a way as to undermine the entire [...]