• WE sent a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, our MP, signed by 33 of his constituents (32 Labour members), on April 11, and other than an automated acknowledge­ment of receipt, we have had no response.

This is a summary of the letter we sent after learning that MPs will be allowed to claim an extra £10,000 in expenses to facilitate remote working, in addition to a £10,000 one-off grant from local authorities to cover the cost of closing constituency offices.

At present, key workers, many without adequate personal protective equipment, PPE, are putting themselves in mortal danger to save lives, serve the public and keep essential services going. Others are working from home or volunteering with no financial gain.

Workers are being laid off, furloughed, having pay cuts, or put on inadequate sick pay, a five-week wait for universal credit and the financial uncertainty for many self-employed workers. Many are having to rely on food banks and food parcels.

This extra allowance for MPs office expenses is seen as morally indefensible by the wider public. MPs have just received a rise taking their salary to over £81,000, and the current limit on expenses is £26,000.

The reputation of Labour MPs would be enhanced by declaring publicly that this money be used to fund PPE for key workers.

This is all about transparency, doing the right thing, being on the right side of history and holding this government to account through our own actions.

PAUL RENNY, SHEZAN RENNY, DOROTHEA HACKMAN, GARETH MURPHY, RIVA JOFFE, HARRIET EVANS, NICHOLAS WEAVER, ROBERT WEST, JOANNE O’BRIEN, SUSANNA MITCHELL, FELICITY TAYLOR, MARK DENNISON, JULIAN HOUGH, LAUREN HOUGH, RUTH APPLETON, DEEPA GOVINDARAJAN DRIVER, SIAN WHITEHEAD, UNA DOYLE, MARK FALLMANN, ELIZABETH DORE, TOM REED, LUKE PEARSON, DIANE PEARSON, AMANDA SEBESTYEN, MICHAEL BROWN, PETE BOND, KUMIKO SHIMIZU, SYLVIA FINZI, NAH DOVE, SARAH FRIDAY, MARY O’SULLIVAN, JIMENA CASTRO, RICHARD KUPER, ANDREW FEINSTEIN, ZULMA WICKENDEN, PETER WICKENDEN