Letter: Methods for electing a successor to John Smith
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Your leading article 'Lessons from an untimely death' (14 May) is unduly gloomy about MPs' mortality.
The death rate for the 1987 House of Commons was about 0.6 per cent per annum, while for the nation as a whole it was roughly 1.1 per cent. The figure for the 1983 House was even more favourable. So being an MP would appear to increase, not reduce, life expectancy.
Yours sincerely,
PAUL HORSTRUP
London, SE10
14 May
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