So succinctly has this writer put the case for the prosecution against the "expense-gate" defendants now acting on our behalf in Parliament, the words "for God's sake go, and go now" spring clearly to the memory!

The one huge problem that we have as electors is the fact we will most likely end up after a General Election with the same majority of MPs who are currently sitting!

Pandora mentions the far right and the British National Party must be rubbing its hands with glee at the thought of a General Election.

Perhaps Pandora should put herself forward for Parliament as an independent.

The next election could well see the lowest turn-out of electors in British political history.

It will give powerful advantage to lesser popular parties and could well produce the first British National Party MP. The House must be put in order, fast, otherwise the consequence will be disastrous.

Perhaps Tony Clarke could be brought into the equation, after all, his letter proved that you don't need to behave as though you were some kind of property developer to be a Member of Parliament.
Don J Collin, Cotswold Avenue, Hopping Hill, Duston, Northampton.

Time to chop out dead wood
THE revelations of the MPs' expenses claims are extreme and outrageous. The anger of the public understandable. Had you or I acted in this way it would have been the sack and being taken to court. The offending MPs should now jump before being pushed!

I liken it all to the dead wood in the crown of a great tree!

Old establishments grow top heavy. They need to be inspected and pruned for their better health and efficiency. Any decent business undergoes reorganisation for this very reason.

Using the present chaos to the best effect, let's start at the top and expose everything to view, with action to follow. We are due for a lot of surprises and the amount of savings will be immense.

John Wright, North Western Avenue, Northampton.

Nothing new or really shocking
Sixty years ago, I was in business in Woolwich and bought a Christmas card for my wife from a nearby trader, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a highly respected pillar of society.

It cost sixpence but he gave me a receipt for one pound and sixpence. "What's that for, I said. He replied: "It'll help with your tax returns."

A few years later, two students returning to the Far East bought from my shop two very expensive items of audio equipment. As I made out the receipt one said "Could you mark them 're-conditioned, second hand' so that we won't have to pay duty?".

I refused, thus losing half my week's wages. All my business friends thought me mad.

Since moving to Blisworth, we have had several small plumbing, electrical and carpentry jobs done. Three firms were passed to us by the local council.

In every case except one we were offered a cheaper rate if we didn't want a receipt. For the last job we chose a small firm, Barry Bunting, mainly because he didn't want us to help him fiddle his VAT and Income Tax.

It's a culture which goes back well before Thatcherism and all that that implies.

So what's new, unexpected, shocking, about our members of Parliament's actions?
Owen Bryce, Pond Bank, Blisworth.

Ethical standards are sadly missing
Well, well, what a coincidence! It appears that MP Sally Keeble's account of "using her own money to protect her staff" (Friday's Chron) is disclosed so soon after the "Labour MPs are blameless" email that was leaked to the Independent newspaper (May 11).

This specific email exonerated Labour MPs in the expenses scandal. It states: "Labour MPs have been told by their own party officials that they have done nothing wrong over expenses".

I'd like to suggest there are other ways of regaining public confidence and this isn't one of them.

How about she checks her job description which is to stand as a representative to the people in her constituency, upholding the responsibilities and trust put in her by the public.

This position carries with it a moral responsibility. Like a doctor who signs the Hippocratic oath promising to work ethically at all times, she also made promises. Therefore I would expect her to be fully aware of the entirety of her position, which includes the ethical standards of other members of her party.

At least she had the money to spend . . . there are many people in this town who have never seen a thousand pounds and wouldn't know what an expenses sheet looks like. As for the threats to her staff she described in her article, this is a situation that many people live with on a daily basis, and have no one to bail them out.

Sue Jackson, Westleigh Close, Abington, Northampton.

No-one is above the hunting laws
Reading recent newspaper reports on new national guidelines for police enforcement of the Hunting Act made me wonder how many journalists actually read the guidelines before simply re-hashing the pro-hunting spin released by the Countryside Alliance and other bloodsports fanatics.

The guidance issued by the Association of Police Chief Officers rightly points out that while hunting is not a top priority it is still the law of the land and therefore it is their duty to enforce this law.

This is very different from claims that police believe the law to be unenforceable and therefore will no longer be policing it.

Let us not forget there have been almost 70 prosecutions under the Act in the four years since it came into force and more are in the pipeline with summons in new cases issued just last week.

What was also recognised in the guidelines is the effort and commitment from organisations such as the League Against Cruel Sports in training professional monitors to work closely with the police on this issue. These people work tirelessly, often in the face of both verbal and physical abuse, to ensure the Hunting Act, which is supported by 75 per cent of the population, is effectively enforced.

The bottom line is that the Hunting Act is the law of the land and no-one – not even a hunter – is above that.

Douglas Batchelor, Chief Executive, League Against Cruel Sports.

Hunt master fond of the absurd
Colin Richmond-Watson, joint master of the Grafton Hunt in Northamptonshire, is quoted (Police advised to stop monitoring, May 18) as saying the hunting fraternity is moving towards its own code of conduct to replace the Hunting Act.

Could this be the same Colin Richmond-Watson who on February 12, 2008 was quoted in your paper as saying, "It's just one of those things"? Lest your readers and Mr Richmond-Watson have forgotten this was in response to a report detailing hounds from the Grafton Hunt rampaging out of control through the village of Maidford and eventually cornering and killing a fox in an unoccupied cottage in Chapel Lane.

Mr Richmond-Watson is clearly fond of the absurd and so while he's dreaming, perhaps we should get burglars to police theft offences?
Matt Fox, Hunting Campaigner, League Against Cruel Sports, Holloway Hill, Godalming, Surrey.