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MP racks up £49k bill on stationery and postage

11:10am Friday 26th October 2007

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The Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden racked up the biggest bill for paper, envelopes and postage in the course of a year, figures from Parliament reveal.

Siobhain McDonagh used £35,207 of envelopes with pre-paid postage and another £13,900 on stationery during the last financial year.

She was also the biggest stationery spender in 2003/04 with a bill of £31,845 and came second in 2004/5 with £37,442.

Ms McDonagh has held the seat since 1997 and has a 12,560 majority.

A spokesman said the stationery had been used to contact constituents about significant local issues.

This included the potential closure of St Helier Hospital and the proposed Eastfields railway station in Mitcham, both of which have had successful outcomes.

The MP also launched a consultation on two local schools with flagging performances.

"Siobhain sends out lots of letters to her constituents because she wants to be the hardest working MP that she can," he said.

"If she did not contact them, she feels she would not be doing her job properly."

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Chris, Essex says...
11:17am Sat 27 Oct 07

They wonder why people are losing faith in this government, if they had done an interview in the newspaper it wouldnt have cost half as much and still would have allowed for greater exposure at nowhere near the cost... bear in mind that the people are giving her this money to use wisely.

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Socialist, Great Britain says...
4:16pm Sat 27 Oct 07

£49K on stationery? Meanwhile, millions of ordinary citizens are forced into the slave labour of Minimum Wage fiver-an-hour drudgery, and thousands more are forced to simply exist on £59 per week dole. Outrageous. What happened to Socialism?
How about re-distributing some wealth?

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DANIEL, EAST LONDON says...
3:35pm Sun 28 Oct 07

ITS INSANE, I THINK THAT COVERS IT.

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Mr Shabbir Mastan, South London says...
11:00pm Sun 28 Oct 07

Siobhan is my local MP and I think she does a wonderful job. She pays great attention to detail and when I had some issues she kept me fully and regularly informed by mail. So lets not begrudge this expense if it provides a valuable service for the constituents.

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Leto, Mitcham says...
5:26pm Mon 29 Oct 07

I get lots of this junk and never a word about the regeneration of Mitcham which has been hanging around for years.

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Bob, Cheam says...
4:46pm Tue 30 Oct 07

I take it with a stationery bill like that she's never heard of the internet, email or environmental concerns?

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Neema Siby, Mitcham says...
5:05pm Tue 30 Oct 07

Great, while mitcham residents live in sub=saharan living conditions. I have been unable for the last few weeks to get the council to check out a rat infestation in my block, perhaps the MP could lend this constituent some money to hire private help with thisa problem. After paying the council tax we barely have enough to live on where are we going to get money to afford private pest control, which by the way is because of this ridiculous forthnightly rubbish collection!!

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Richard B, Morden says...
4:05pm Wed 31 Oct 07

I think its really key we're kept informed, so I support Ms McDonagh sending us letters through the year. When you think of all the junk that enters our letterboxes, and that someone somewhere is spending on this, its key we don't lose the vital information that MPs send to their constituents

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Jock, London says...
2:26am Thu 1 Nov 07

Socialist wrote:
£49K on stationery? Meanwhile, millions of ordinary citizens are forced into the slave labour of Minimum Wage fiver-an-hour drudgery, and thousands more are forced to simply exist on £59 per week dole. Outrageous. What happened to Socialism? How about re-distributing some wealth?
Truth is, a lot of the "thousands existing on dole money" could easily change their situation if they could be bothered to get off their lazy **** and didn't milk the state. So don't hark on with your socialism rubbish. You want money, you earn it. Simple as.

I see guys in Balham who get their dole money, and walk into the nearest pub. So by your agenda, I should pay for their drinks...Dream on.

Get off your soapbox, and get real. And I think you'll find the minimum wage is over £5 an hour.

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Comments are closed on this article.

Siobhain McDonagh is the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden Siobhain McDonagh is the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden

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