Parliament’s “Queen of Stamps”

Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, Siobhain McDonagh, has been criticised again for excessive expenses claims after racking up a bill of almost £20,000 for envelopes and stamps. She was nicknamed the “Queen of Stamps” in 2007 after amassing a bill of £49,107 for stationery. The TaxPayers’ Alliance accuses the MP of propaganda. McDonagh, however, claims she is being criticised for a bill which is actually evidence of her efforts to communicate with constituents.

“I have a duty to write to people and keep them informed on what’s going on and I believe the most important thing as an MP is to communicate with my constituents,” she said.

“I’ve had a lot more flak than this in the past but it’s never been my constituents to have done the complaining. This is probably the only job in the world where you can be criticised for doing too much.”

But the campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said, “It’s simply wrong that this MP can spend tens of thousands of pounds bolstering her own image. Taxpayer’s money should be provided to MPs to help them represent us properly in Westminster, not for them to churn out propaganda to butter up the electorate.”