Letter: Making allowances for MPs' expenses

Sir: It is a bit rich for Sir John Hunt, MP to complain of Robert Hardy and Peter Connolly's 'wilful desire to mislead' (Letters, 21 July). Was it not Kenneth Clarke, then Secretary of State for Health, who, in 1989, while introducing the new GP contracts, spoke of the average GP taking pounds 64,000 out of the NHS each year? This figure included surgery expenses and reimbursement of staff salaries, but was clearly intended to mislead the public into believing it was an average salary. At the time the average GP salary was less than half this figure. Sir John should not complain when he gets a taste of his party's own medicine.

Yours faithfully,

DAVID J. N. BENNETT

Fakenham, Norfolk

21 July